Love and Truth
by HoPeLeSsRoMaNtIc-29
Summary: Having returned Al to his body, Ed's free to live his life as "The Alchemist for the People". However, when Ed returns to Resembool in hopes of confessing to Winry he finds that she has got herself a boyfriend. Can he win her love or is it too late?
1. Homecoming

**Hey all! This is my very first FMA fanfiction, so I doubt I'll be very good at it. But I promise to try my best! :D**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist! So sad! :( However, I do own my OCs! :D**

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****Chapter One**

**Homecoming**

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"It's great to be back," sighed the blonde State Alchemist as he stepped off the train that had just arrived in Resembool, his little brother following in his wake.

"Yes it is, Brother!" said Alphonse Elric, breathing in the pleasant scent of their hometown as they exited the train station and started down the all too familiar roads of the country side where they'd lived out their childhood.

"Man! Is Winry going to be surprised or what!" exclaimed Edward, happily.

"This place hasn't changed one bit," said Al as they neared the yellow house perched on a small hilltop.

"Tell me about it!" chuckled Ed. "Good old Resembool!" They started up the path that led to the front porch.

"I wonder if Winry is in…"

"Heh! Where else would she be?" scoffed Ed.

"That's not fair, Brother! She has a life too!" exclaimed the younger Elric.

"Pft! That girl's life only revolves around automail and machines."

"Well she could be at the town's hardware store or someplace like that, you know!" argued Al giving his brother a look.

"Hm… maybe," muttered the golden eyed prodigy indifferently before grinning at his sibling and running towards the house screaming, "Old lady Pinako! Guess who…"

"Ah!" muttered the short old woman walking out the front door, her pipe between her lips. "If it isn't the pipsqueak-!"

A vein popped in Ed's forehead. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A VERTICALLY CHALLENGED, MICROSCOPIC, LITTLE SPECK?!" hollered the furious blonde shaking his fist at the woman.

"Brother, she never said anything like that," said Al in attempt to calm his seething brother.

"Nice to see you, Al! Looks like your enjoying having your body back," smiled Pinako. Al grinned and blushed.

Ed's efforts to restore his younger brother back to his original body had paid off. He, however, had had to remain with the automail arm and leg. He didn't mind at all. What were a few automail limbs if Al was able feel and breathe again?

Once Al had returned to his body he'd grown like a weed, successfully surpassing his brother's height. Ed, on the other hand, had only grown to reach 5'8'', much to his chagrin. He hated that he was the older brother, but the shorter one. The boy was still sensitive about it, to some extent.

"Al!" squealed a yellow blur, before the said boy was tackled to the ground.

"Winry," choked the seventeen year old, laughing softly at his old friend's antics. "It's great to see you too!"

The girl released Al before turning to Ed and attacking him with a bone crushing hug as well. Ed chuckled and embraced his mechanic with similar enthusiasm, a blush dusting over his pale cheeks, but taking care not to put too much force into it so as to not hurt the girl with his automail arm.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Winry after releasing Ed. "The last time you wrote to me you said that you had a lot of work back at Central." Her eyes darkened as she looked at the blonde prodigy. "You didn't destroy my automail again, right?" She whipped out her wrench from her back pocket, her expression ominous.

"What? No, not at all!" yelled Ed waving his hands around in front of him. "We're here on holiday, Winry. The military finally decided to give me break from all that work."

"Oh!" said the blonde, smiling and lowering her wrench. "Then, cool!"

Ed let out a breath in relief.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Hey, Winry?" Ed was lounging on the girl's bed flipping idly through a magazine.

"Hmm?" Said girl was perched in front of the dressing table in her room, brushing her long blonde hair.

"Let's go into town. It's been a while since Al and I've been there…"

"Sure, Ed. But not today," she said, clipping back her hair from the right side of her face with a pretty, blue, butterfly shaped hair clip. Feeling satisfied with her work, Winry stood up and turned to Ed. "How do I look?" she asked.

The eighteen year old looked up from the magazine. He raised his eyebrows at her. The girl was dressed in a bright blue tank top with a white, pleated skirt that came two inches above her knees. "Um… okay…?" he answered unsurely. "What are you getting so dressed up for anyway?"

"I have a date," she said simply.

"Huh?" sputtered Ed. "Wait, what?"

"I have a date," she repeated smiling but soon scowled as he cracked up, falling off the bed and rolling on the floor.

Winry crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "What's so funny?" she grimaced.

Ed slowly managed to calm himself and wiped a tear from his eye. "You, Winry Rockbell, on a date?" he snickered. "Wow! That's a first!"

"Humph!"

"I never thought I'd see the day when a dumb grease monkey like you actually got a date!" scoffed Ed. Winry's mouth dropped open at his words. "So? Who's the unlucky guy?" he teased when she didn't say anything, still laughing. Fuming, she immediately turned on her heel and stormed out of the door and down the stairs.

"Winry?" Al asked her as she stomped past him and out the front door. "Another fight?" he asked, this time from his brother who'd entered the room just as Winry ran out of the house. Ed shrugged, still chuckling, and settled himself next to the other Elric. "Brother, what did you do this time!?"

"What? What did I do?!" whined Ed.

"Winry just stormed out of the house! She looked pretty mad."

"Doesn't mean it's my fault!" he said. "She's probably just late for her date!"

"She has a date?!" Al blinked in astonishment.

Ed shrugged and leaned into the couch they were sitting on. "That's what she said," he muttered nonchalantly.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Aw c'mon, Win!" whined Ed.

"No!" she exclaimed stalking off, outraged. Ed trailed after her frantically.

"Just hear me out!"

"Go away!" She walked into her room and slammed the door in the Elric's face. She lowered herself to the floor, her back against her door, and buried her face in her knees.

"Winry," he sighed softly, leaning his forehead against the solid wood. "I'm sorry! Really… I didn't mean what I said. I was only teasing…" A moment passed before the sound of bolts unlocking reached Ed's ears. The door opened to reveal Winry, her eyes cast downward and her expression unreadable.

"It's okay, Ed… I forgive you." She smiled softly, before…

BAM!

Winry had thrown her trusty wrench at the boy, knocking him to the ground. She snickered. Ed clutched the now growing bruise on his forehead and yelled, "What the hell was that for?!"

"Payback for saying what you did," she stated simply, walking past him with a big satisfied grin on her face.

Ed groaned, standing up slowly. "Women!" he muttered.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"So did she forgive you, Brother?"

Ed stretched out comfortably on his bed and placed his hands behind his head before he answered. "Yeah! But I got a nice smack on the head along with it."

Al chuckled which turned into peals of laughter when his brother glowered at him. "Well, at least she's not mad at you anymore," reasoned the younger Elric.

"Yeah, yeah! That's her hobby, isn't it? Whacking me…" Ed sighed.

"Well… you do provoke her." Al chuckled again when Ed chucked a pillow at him from across the room.

"Shut up and go to sleep, Al!"

"Good night, Brother!" said Al trying to keep in his giggles.

"Night!'" grumbled Ed, turning his back to his sibling and falling into a deep slumber.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

The next morning Ed drifted into the Rockbell's kitchen guided by the delicious smell of waffles wafting around the yellow house.

"Good morning, Ed!" smiled Winry as he sat down at the table.

"Morning! Are those waffles I smell?" asked Ed, a dreamy look on his face. Winry giggled.

"Yep!" she said and laid a plate down in front of the drooling boy. Ed immediately began to devour the food.

"Good morning Winry, shrimp!" chanted Pinako meandering in, newspaper in hand.

"DON'T CALL ME SMALL, YOU MINISCULE OLD HAG!" bellowed Edward, standing up and shaking a fist at her.

"Edward!" snapped Winry before she walloped him with her wrench. "Don't yell at the table!"

"Ow!" he grumbled rubbing his sore head. "You didn't have to hit me…"

"Where's Al?" asked Winry, sitting down next to Ed.

"Still asleep. Ever since he got his body back he's been enjoying his sleep," said Ed, a soft smile lighting up his face at the thought of his beloved brother. Winry smiled at him.

"Do the two of you mind going into town and picking up a few things for me?" asked Pinako after a while.

"Not at all!" said Ed excitedly, gobbling down the rest of his food before reaching for seconds.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"The air here is so different from Central," stated Ed while walking down the dirt path that led towards the Resembool town, his hands stuffed in his trouser pockets. He breathed in deep.

Winry laughed. "Well, of course!" she said linking her arm with Ed's right. "It's not polluted with the use of cars and stuff."

"Yeah!" muttered the blonde, his eyes focused on something far away. "So… who's this guy you dated last night? Do I know him?" he asked suddenly, studying the girl beside him with his piercing eyes.

"Hmm?" Winry looked up at him, azure eyes meeting gold. "You do, actually. It's Andrew. You remember him, right?"

"Andrew?! Andrew Forest?!" asked Ed shocked, his eyes as big as saucers.

"Yes… What's wrong with him?" she asked, confused.

"Uhh… everything! He's a stuck up, good-for-nothing, little worm! What do you see in him?!" demanded Ed.

"Hey! He _used _to be all that. He changed, okay! He's quite nice now. You should meet him."

"Pft! Probably only nice to pretty girls!" said Ed, huffing indignantly.

Winry punched him lightly in the shoulder. "He's not like th-! Wait… you think I'm pretty?" she asked, surprised, a light pink hue finding its way onto her face.

Ed's step faltered slightly as he realized what he said. "L-like I'd find an automail junkie like you pretty!" he said loftily, trying to cover up his words. He turned his face away to hide his flushed cheeks. Winry pouted and ran ahead, leaving him behind.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Edward?" called a voice from across the street. Ed turned to see who it was. "Oh my God!" exclaimed the girl running over to the blonde.

"Hey Lilly!" smiled Ed. "How've you been?"

"I've been great! How are you? It's been so long! I think, the last time I saw you was… um… like years and years ago!" she blabbered on. "How's AL? Is he still the cute, sweet, lovable Al we all used to know?"

Ed laughed. "Yeah! Al is good. He's back at home. He would have loved to have met you, though."

"Me too," giggled Lilly. "Have you met the others? Our old friends?"

"Ehehe… no, I haven't. Not yet. I got here just yesterday." He said, rubbing the back of his head and grinning.

"Oh… Gosh! Look at you! I still can't believe this is the same shrimpy Edward Elric I'm talki-!"

Edward cut her off by yelling, "DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME SMALL!"

The girl grinned awkwardly and sweat-dropped. "Hey Winry!" she greeted over Ed's shoulder as the blonde girl walked out of the shop they were standing in front of.

"Hey Lilly! Looks like you found Ed," laughed Winry.

"So…" she teased, nudging the other girl in the ribs. "How was your date with Andrew? " Her violet colored eyes twinkled as she squealed.

Winry blushed a bright shade of red. "Well, um… he t-took me out for a really nice dinner… and then we went for a walk in the park." She said, stuttering slightly out of embarrassment.

"Ooooooooooh…" squealed the brunette. "How romantic!"

Ed growled lightly, causing Lilly to raise her eye brows at him. He said nothing and walked to the next shop. The girl turned to Winry with a questioning look. Winry shrugged. "He's not too fond of me dating Andrew," said the girl.

"Oh…" nodded the brunette, a smile and knowing look on her face. She followed Winry to the next shop.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Hey sugar!" said a voice before Winry felt two arms wrap around her waist. She looked over her shoulder and smiled as her boyfriend kissed her cheek softly.

"Hi Andrew," said Winry, blushing.

"Ahem!" coughed Ed, causing the couple in front of him to break apart. He raised an eyebrow at his childhood best friend, making her face resemble a tomato.

"Um… Andrew, y-you remember Edward right?" she said quickly trying to force down her blush.

"Oh yeah!" he exclaimed, a wide grin appearing on his face. He extended his right hand to Ed. "Nice to see you again, mate!"

"Yeah… it is," sneered Ed. He took the extended hand with his own, somewhat crushing the other boy's hand mercilessly with his automail one in the process.

"Hi Andrew!" said Lilly skipping over to them cheerily. Said boy grinned widely at the brunette and ruffled her hair, making her giggle.

"So… how're you and your little brother doing?" he asked turning back to Edward.

"Fine," muttered Ed before asking Winry whether she was done with her shopping.

"Almost," she answered with a smile. She dumped the bags into Edward's hands before she turned and walked to the next store. Ed groaned and followed her.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Good morning, Granny!" said Al cheerily entering the kitchen. Pinako turned and smiled at the boy.

"Ah, you're finally up." She stated and piled Al's plate with waffles.

Al gave the old woman a silly grin before digging into his food. He chewed slowly, savouring the taste of Winry's cooking. "Granny, where's Brother and Winry?" he asked, looking around the room.

"They went in to town to run some errands for me," said Pinako. She seated herself across from Al and picked up the newspaper.

Al nodded and turned back to his late breakfast.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Hey, Winry?" said Lilly.

"Hmm?" Winry turned to look at the brunette.

"Let's all go down to the lake tomorrow… I'll call the others! You can bring Ed and Al."

"That's a good idea. I don't know about Ed, but Al would definitely be thrilled."

Lilly laughed. "Yeah… Ed can be pretty stubborn at times," she said.

"More like _all_ the time!" said Winry.

"Hey!" Ed came up to them, his hands laden with bags. "Don't talk about me when I'm not around to defend myself!" The girls giggled and Ed just rolled his eyes.

"Come on, my _little_ _pack mule_!" said Winry grabbing Ed by the sleeve of his jacket and pulling him along. "Let's go now!"

"What!?" Ed growled. "I am NOT your pack mule!" Though his annoyance only made the girls giggle more. "And enough with the short jokes!"

"Let's go, Ed." Ed glared at Winry, burning holes into her head, but followed her anyway.

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**Well, that's chapter 1! :D**

**I hope you enjoyed it. Read and review please and tell me what you think! Is it good enough to continue?**

**-HoPeLeSsRoMaNtIc-**


	2. The Vision of Beauty

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**Chapter Two**

**The Vision of Beauty**

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"Ready to go?" asked Winry, slipping her feet into her orange beach slippers. Ed grunted and she turned to look at him. "Aw, come now, Ed! You could be a little more enthusiastic about this…"

"Whatever!" The blonde was sprawled on the couch of the living room. Winry sighed. The boy was impossible sometimes.

"Al, could you go get the picnic basket from the kitchen table please?" cooed Winry.

"Sure, Winry!" chirped Alphonse running out of the room.

Winry walked over to the couch where Edward was lying and poked him in the shoulder. "C'mon Ed, time to go! You better come along now, or do I have to bring out my wrench?" She grinned and walked towards the entrance where Al was waiting, ready with the basket. Grumbling, Edward got off the couch to join them, and together they left the house after calling out a 'goodbye' to Pinako.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"How fortunate! It's such a beautiful day today!" Al piped up as they neared the lake.

Winry nodded in agreement. "Perfect weather for a picnic!"

"Perfect weather to practice some outdoor alchemy." Edward corrected, earning a whack on the head from Winry.

"No alchemy," she warned. "Aren't you supposed to be on holiday?"

Edward muttered some incoherent words while rubbing the sore spot on his head. "That doesn't mean I can't practice."

"No wonder you're so short"

A vein popped. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?! My height has nothing to do with alchemy!" growled Edward.

"You don't know that," she shrugged, skipping ahead. Ed scowled.

"Hey Winry!" squealed Lilly. She ran up to them attacked the blonde girl with a hug. She released her before turning to the boys. "Hey Ed! Hi Al!" She giggled before hugging them both as well.

"H-hi Lilly!" Al blushed and shyly hugged the brunette back.

"You guys are like the last ones here. Come on!" she said dragging the three down towards the rest of their friends.

Winry immediately made a beeline to the water and sighed contentedly as the cool water hit her feet. She wiggled her toes into the squishy sand, enjoying the feeling of the refreshing water soaking her feet before she felt someone pick her up from behind and toss her into the lake. She hit the water head first, clothes and all. Winry heard the sound of laughter behind her. She sat up and turned around to find Edward clutching his sides and laughing at her. "Eeedwaaaard!" she shrieked before she scrambled out the water and chased him down the shoreline, Ed laughing all the way. She caught up to him as her turned to look back at her and tackled him, his back colliding with the ground. "Ha! Gotcha!" she grinned straddling him.

Ed snorted. "Yeah whatever. You may have won this time, but I'll be sure to get you next time!"

"Let's see you try, Ed!" Winry challenged. She rolled off him and lay down at his side panting lightly from all the running. Ed stretched his arms into the air before letting them drop back to the ground. His right arm collided with Winry's stomach, knocking the wind out of her. "Oof!" She glared at him and pushed his arm away only for it to fall back onto her stomach. "Ed! Your arm is heavy!" she wailed in annoyance. He laughed.

"It's your precious automail! You shouldn't complain about its weight," he teased, chuckling before he got up, dusted his seat and extended his left hand to her. Winry took it gratefully and pulled herself to her feet. She squirmed uncomfortably in her wet t-shirt and shorts and tugged the hair tie out of her hair. Ed watched her slowly out of the corner of his eye. He blushed and turned away when she started to wriggle her slender body out of her wet clothes to stand in her bright orange bikini. She poked Ed in the side once she was done. He turned to look at her, discreetly taking in the sight of her in her swimsuit. He blushed again and looked away clearing his throat to try and hide his flushed cheeks. "Let's go back," he mumbled walking forward without waiting for her to follow.

The walk back was in awkward silence, at least to Edward and he was at a loss for words around the girl for the first time since he could remember. The picture of Winry in her swimsuit kept popping up in his head no matter how hard he tried to push it away. Her beautiful face with big, bright blue eyes; a cute little nose and rosy, kissable lips… and to top it all off, she had a great body. Her nicely toned shoulders and arms, her slim waist, her full hips and long, lean legs… It was all he could do to keep the blush off his face. _Bad Edward! Stop thinking of Winry like that!_ He warned. _Especially when she's right next to you!_

"Edo? Are you alright?" asked Winry snapping him out of his stupor. She looked at him, trying to catch his gaze, which he adamantly kept from her.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" he lied. "Why?"

"Um… well, you're never this quiet…" she said, concern lacing her voice.

"I'm fine. Really!" he said sounding sure but not feeling it at all. _Damn you Winry! Damn you for being so damn beautiful!_

They finally reached their group of friends thankfully, for Edward. He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and moved towards his brother, somewhat still in a trance. "Brother? What's wrong with you?" asked Al running to Ed as soon as he noticed his blank expression.

"What?" Ed asked confused, having been snapped out of it yet again. Al raised an eyebrow at the older Elric.

"Why do you look so out of it? What happened?"

Edward looked at Al for a moment before he answered. "Oh nothing. I'm fine, Al. Just very hungry," he said smiling and rubbing his stomach to emphasize his point.

"Uh huh!" said Al looking at his brother suspiciously. "You know you're a horrible liar, right?"

"Who said I'm lying?" asked Ed. He walked towards the table laden with food and picked up one of Winry's sandwiches.

"Right!" muttered Al still looking skeptically at Ed.

Edward swallowed his mouthful before speaking. "Al, will you stop looking at me like that? It's very uncomfortable."

"You only feel that way because you _are_ hiding something," stated the younger Elric.

"Whatever," muttered Ed stuffing another sandwich into his mouth before reaching for another.

"Hey pal!" Edward turned to find Andrew grinning broadly at him. Ed raised an eyebrow, but forced a quick grin at the boy before turning back and stuffing his face to avoid conversation, rolling his eyes at Al. Alphonse, on the other hand, offered a smile and a cheery hello.

"Hey have any of you seen Winry?" he asked, walking forward and putting his bag down on the floor next to the table where Edward was eating. Edward scowled and took another mouthful, pretending not to hear the question although it was said loudly enough. Alphonse frowned at is brother before speaking up.

"She's probably playing by the lake, Drew." he said. Edward choked, and Al returned to frowning at his older brother. After Andrew left them alone, Al began to scold him. "That was rude brother!" he exclaimed.

"Drew*?" Edward snickered. "That's the dumbest nickname I've heard!"

"What's wrong with it? Everyone calls him that, including Winry." Alphonse said. "And that wasn't what I was talking about. Why'd you ignore him? I'm sure he noticed it!"

Edward frowned at the mention of Winry. "Who cares!" he muttered. Looking away and walking towards the lake. "I'm going for a swim." He said as an excuse to avoid his brother and his uncanny ability to read him like a book. He was sure his brother noticed his jealousy. Yup, he was jealous! Edward Elric was jealous of that damn _Drew_. And he hated it. He hated the stupid Green Eyed Monster gnawing at his insides. After having stripped to his shorts, Edward prepared to dive into the swirling waters, but hesitated when he heard a very familiar giggle. Looking across the lake he spotted Winry, but she wasn't alone. Andrew was furiously tickling her, making her laughter resonate around their camp. "And just when I was beginning to calm down too!" Edward cursed, stubbornly pulling his previously discarded t-shirt back on and stomping back towards their picnic table. "The lake feels too crowded," he muttered as he passed Al. His brother too noticed the playful couple and smiled understandingly.

The young state alchemist positioned himself under a large, shady tree with wide spread branches and closed his eyes in relaxation, mentally comparing the difference in atmosphere between here and Central, trying to drown out the giggles that persisted.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

**Edward's POV:**

_Edward…_

It was such a sweet, tender voice. I wanted to answer, to open my eyes and see the angel who spoke.

"_Edward... open your eyes my Edward!"_

"Mom..?" I whispered longingly.

The angel giggled, it was such a beautiful and melodious sound, like the tinkling of bells. "No Edward... Wake up my darling."

Almost immediately, my eyelids snapped open at the soft command. I flinched as the sudden flash of light entered through my eyelids, but then relaxed as my pupils adjusted accordingly, and I immediately began looking for the source of the voice. And there she stood, a few meters away from me and wearing the most absurd outfit that I could ever imagine her in. The beauty was dressed in a leafy hula skirt and was wearing a coconut bra!

_What the heck?!_

The woman had her long blond hair flowing loosely down her back, and was wearing a garland of blue flowers on her head and around her neck that matched the colour her eyes. The entire appearance was entirely startling, although I had to admit that she did look lovely dancing like that at the beach!

_The Beach?! Where'd the lake go?_

I was speechless. And to my complete surprise, and discomfort, Winry started gliding towards me, sashaying her hips and waving her hands as she did so.

"Edward! I've never seen you so red!" she cooed, tickling me under my chin. She was right, my face felt like as though it was on fire.

I couldn't speak! When I opened my mouth the only sound that came out was a mess of gurgling noises! My cheeks flamed in embarrassment, but this only caused her to giggle even more. I couldn't help myself! I'd never seen Winry so alluring and so seductive before. But I had to stay focused!

"W-where are the o-others?" I felt like punching myself at the tone of my voice. It was so squeaky and high-pitched! So unlike me! But it was all I could get out as she caressed my cheek softly.

"Does it matter?" she chuckled, leaning in closer.

"I-I… uh…"

She stopped with her lips just an inch away from my own and I closed my eyes and relaxed under her fresh and relaxing smell. _Jasmine…_

"Edward…" she crooned.

"Mm-mm…" was all that I could manage.

_Edward…_

She reached up and pat me lightly on the head.

"Mm..." I mumbled again.

She pat me on the head again, but it was very, very hard, not to mention painful!

"Ow!" I exclaimed, my eyelids snapping open at the same time as I heard another more boyish voice shout 'Winry' in an alarmed tone.

Winry was still there crouched in front of me, a wrench in her hand, and Alphonse stood not far behind her. _Huh?_ The coconut bra was gone, replaced with a long sleeved red t-shirt. I looked around and saw that we were back at the lake.

"Winry?"

"Wake up sleepy head!" she said with a slightly annoyed tone. She looked like as though she was aiming another shot at my head with her wrench.

"I'm up! I'm up!" I groaned.

"Good," she said standing up and walking away, only to be replaced by Al.

"Was I asleep?" I asked my brother. _Was I dreaming?_ I wondered to myself, reaching up to touch the bruise on my head. _Too bad that wasn't a part of my dream!_

"Yeah, you were asleep." Al said, but I could tell he was hiding something. The boy was biting on his lower lip, like as though he was trying to stop himself from laughing.

"What?" I demanded. He would know what I was talking about.

"Um... Well you were talking in your sleep, Brother." Al muttered, putting a hand over his mouth to keep in the giggles.

I felt my cheeks grow warm. "What did I say?" I pressed. I guessed it must be awful if even Alphonse didn't want to tell me, but I was still curious to know what exactly I had said.

"You said, you said…" he said in between giggles.

"AL!"

"You were muttering something about coconut bras!" Al blurted out before bursting into a fit of laughter.

_Oh shit!_

I felt my cheeks burn, just like in the dream. "That really annoyed Winry. That's why she hit you!" he continued.

_Winry heard what I said?!_ My jaw dropped. I couldn't see the funny side of this. "Shut up Al, it's not funny!"

"Yes it is!" he snickered. "You should have seen Winry's face!"

I scowled, feeling my cheeks heat up more than I could ever imagine possible.

"So… what was the dream about, Brother?" said Al settling down cross-legged next to me. "You _have _to tell me!"

"No way in hell, Al!" I yelled.

"Oooh… Now I really want to know! Tell me, Brother. Tell me tell me tell me!!!"

"Go away, Al!" I grumbled swatting at him with my automail arm like he was an annoying fly. In a way he was, annoying that is.

"I know it had something to do with coconut bras…" he said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Wait! Don't tell me! You were dreaming of Winry, weren't you?"

I almost choked on my own saliva. "W-what?! No I wasn't!" I said in a strangled voice, blushing furiously.

Al stopped giggling and gasped suddenly, as if realizing something.

_Oh no… My brother is not smart! My brother is not smart! He's not going to say what I think he's going to…_ I was panicking internally.

"You dreamt of Winry in a coconut bra, didn't you Brother?"

_He said exactly what I thought he would say!_

"N-no I was not!" I exclaimed too fast.

"You were!" he giggled. Then suddenly he stopped and began wagging his index finger at me looking horror-struck. "I'm appalled at you, Brother!"

_Wait, now he's shaking his finger at me? _Kind of like how mom did whenever we did something naughty.

"I ought to ground you!" he said, sounding disappointed. I scowled at him. "These actions are inexcusable!"

_He's actually scolding me?! That's like the older brother's job… Wait, that's my job! Besides, it's not like I can control my dreams, you know… _I noticed immediately that Al's lecture was attracting attention of the others… including Winry's. _Wait, were they laughing?!_ I started to panic. Al didn't seem to notice his growing audience. _What if he mentions Winry's name again? I'm pretty sure I'll get more than a wrench to the head this time! And I'm pretty sure that bastard Andrew wouldn't hesitate to join in the 'Pulverizing of Edward Elric' game… Not that I cared about that. I could take him on anywhere, anytime!_

"Argh!" I growled shaking a fist at my little brother. Al immediately got up and started running away from me, still grinning ear to ear. "Come back here!" I jumped up and sprinted after him. "Haven't you heard of the saying 'curiosity killed the cat'?" I yelled after him. "Stop so I can prove it to you!"

Al just laughed. "Ahh! So my assumption about your dream is true!" He chuckled showing no signs of fatigue.

"I'll kill you Al!" I gasped, already out of breath. _Man, the boy could run! Did his years as a big tin can give him extra stamina?! _

As I chased Al and passed the food table I heard someone comment, "Ah… brotherly love!" And man, did I want to punch the guy's face in!

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**Aw... Edo is so cute when he's flustered!**

**Okay, people! How was it? Tell me tell me tell me! I want your lovely feedback!**

**Anyway, I have to thank my sister "ASpotOfWhiteInTheBlack" for helping me with this chapter. You all should try reading her fics, if y'all are a Naruto fans. They are pretty good!**

**Thank you for the one review I got for Chapter 1! Also, thanks to those who added this fic to their favourites. Cookies to all!**

**Well, until next time! :D**

**And please, please review!**

**Love,**

**-HoPeLeSsRoMaNtIc-**

***No offence intended to the people who are called Drew. :) **


	3. Preparations for the Festival Part One

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**Chapter Three**

**Preparations for the Festival – Part One**

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Edward was lounged on the couch of the Rockbell living room with his head against the back of the sofa and his left forearm over his eyes. It had been two days since they'd gone to the lake with their friends, but Ed still couldn't get the memory of his dream of out his head. He usually didn't find his dreams too bothersome but this particular dream had him watching every little thing Winry did. Like, for instance, the way her lower lip jut out when she pouted, the way she caught her lower lip between her teeth when in deep thought, the way her hips swayed when she walked… It was frustrating to Ed. It caused him to feel awkward around the girl a lot of the time. He also found himself smiling a lot more, whether it be with her or alone. He knew it was a little out of character for him and he was sure that if he didn't get a grip Winry would start to notice. And the fact that she was dating that Andrew didn't help the way he was feeling at all. _Geez! What does she see in him?_ He sighed.

"You okay?"

Ed raised his arm to look at the very girl he was thinking of standing in front him. He nodded. "Yeah," he said before he noticed that she was carrying a large cardboard box in her arms and raised an eyebrow at her. "What's all that?" he asked nodding towards the box.

"Oh, these are just some decorations for the Resembool Annual Festival."

"Resembool Annual Festival?"

"Yeah, Ed. Don't tell me that you've forgotten about it? We used to have so much fun there when we were kids."

Ed smiled. "I haven't forgotten, Winry."

"Good," she said and grabbed his hand. "Come on. We have to get started." Ed furrowed his eyebrows looking puzzled. Winry just laughed and tugged on his hand. "We have to help with the decorations and stuff, silly. Al's already down there."

"I don't want to," groaned Ed. "When did Al leave?"

"He left right after lunch. Didn't he tell you that he was going?"

"Nope," said the blonde. "I mean, he didn't say he was going to help set up for the fair, just that he was going out." He added when Winry gave him a look that said 'Al doesn't go anywhere without telling you'.

"Oh… well, come on Ed!" said Winry still tugging on his hand.

"Argh, fine!" grumbled Ed, getting to his feet.

"Could you bring those along too?" she asked pointing at two other boxes at her feet, both the same size as the one she was holding. Ed grudgingly complied and followed the sunny blonde out the door.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Brother! You came!" said Al running up to Ed and relieving him of one of the boxes.

"Thanks. Tell me Al, how come you forgot to mention that you were going to help set up for the fair?" Ed asked. "Thanks to that, even I got dragged into this."

"Aw, come on Brother. It's not that bad," said Al placing the box on one of the tables.

"Yeah, Ed. What's up with you? We used to have loads of fun helping decorate for the fair," said Winry, her hands on her hips as she scrutinized him.

"I haven't done any alchemy for almost a week." Ed muttered to himself, ignoring Winry's question.

"You're so odd, Ed," Winry laughed. "Isn't that the whole point of the vacation? You should try to occupy yourself doing other things."

"Yeah, like admiring you," Ed said under his breath.

"Huh?" Winry asked confused. "You said something, Ed?"

"It's nothing," he said quickly. "Come on… let's get started on this decoration."

**Edward's POV:**

I looked around at the masses of boxes and tent poles, lying scattered in disarray. I couldn't really remember how I managed to get through all this work before, but then again, the last time I did this I was only nine years old and there had been other adults and older kids to carry out the more serious work. A thought occurred to me.

"Hey Winry," I called my mechanic over. "How about I use alchemy to set everything up? It'll be faster, and the fair can start early too!" I had expected her to be glad that I had offered to do this big favor, but nope, instead, her gratitude was expressed by adding another great bump to my head. "Ow!" I groaned. "What was that for? You'll kill all of my brain cells woman!" I said crossly.

"That's for being stupid!" she scolded. "And don't worry about your brain cells! You have plenty to spare!"

_Wait; was that a compliment in between scolding me?_ I scowled. "What do you mean by that? I was only offering to help!"

"Well the folks around here would refer to that as an insult!" she said. "Don't you know how much pride we take in setting this whole thing up?"

"Uh…?"

"Oh you goof! Can't you remember anything?" Winry shook her head at me. "This fair is pretty much a very important tradition! We always start the construction five days before the actual starting date, giving us plenty of time to do our jobs leisurely. And the starting date has always been the same, so you see what I mean?" she said, proudly ending her short speech.

"Yeah… sorry Winry. I guess being out of Resembool a lot has made me forget some things," I said staring at my feet.

"Oh Edward…" she said before she pulled me into a hug. I could feel a blush crawling its way up my face and my heart beating a mile a minute. I was so sure Winry could hear it! I know, it's not like Winry has never hugged me before and even though I had always felt my face heat up at the contact, those times had been different. That was before I actually realized my feelings for Winry, let alone accept them. I wasn't sure of what to do so I just stood there awkwardly with my hands at my sides. Winry pulled away after a moment and smiled; a smile that made my heart melt. "Alright Ed, let me assign you to a job! Hmm…" She thought for a while, tapping her chin with her index finger, before she spoke again. "I know! Why don't you go and help Jomy? You remember him, don't you? He's putting up a stall under the old oak tree! Have fun!" she said with a wave, and walked away.

"But, but…" I tried to speak, but she was gone. With a sigh, I headed towards the old tree where Winry had directed me to. How did she expect me to find Jomy, we haven't met each other in years, how was I supposed to recognize him. As children, I remember Jomy used to be this small, shy little kid with jet black hair, pale skin and rosy red eyes. He could have passed for an Ishbalan, but his pale skin gave him away. I found the oak tree, but there was no sign of anyone who fit Jomy's description. The only person under the tree was a tall woman with long black hair, with the ends colored hot pink, that stopped just below her chin. She had her back to me, so I didn't really recognize her. _Maybe she knows where this Jomy is!_ I trotted up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me Ma'am."

The woman turned around and grinned. "Ma'am?" _he_ asked incredulously. It was a guy! "Did you just call me 'ma'am'?"

"You're a guy!" I said, still disbelieving. _It's a guy?!_

The strange man laughed. "Yes, I believe I am!" he said humorously.

"I'm sorry _sir,_" I said.

"Haha, you don't have to be so formal Edward!" he grinned, his rosy eyes twinkling.

_Wait! _Rosy _eyes? _I gaped. "Wait a minute! You're Jomy! Winry's Jomy!"

"Hi Edward! You haven't changed a bit! Still the same little Edward."

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" I yelled.

"Just kidding little man!" he giggled.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP SO SMALL HE HAS TO USE A STOOL TO REACH THE DOORKNOB?!" I roared shaking my right arm at him angrily.

"Eh?" he laughed. "Oops! Looks like I hit a sensitive spot there! Sorry lit- uh- Ed." I glowered at the boy. "Oh by the way, when did I become 'Winry's Jomy'?" He grinned. "I thought she was dating Drew?"

_Another idiot who uses that ridiculous nickname._

"She didn't dump him for me, did she?" he continued. "'Cause I so do not want to get pummeled by that big guy!"

"Oh, so he gets to be 'big guy'?!" I growled furiously.

"Eh? Whoopsie?" he grinned sheepishly. I rolled my eyes. "Well… better get to work. You can start by putting up the sign for the stall, cool?" he asked cheerily. "Make sure it's straight."

"Yeah, whatever!" I grumbled and grabbed the hammer and box of nails. I stomped my way over to the front of the stall and picked up the two long poles needed to hold the sign up. Jomy showed me how the stall was to be arranged and then I got to work. I got the two poles to stand easily enough, next I had to put up the wooden sign. I brought out a stool to stand on to reach the height (It's not because I'm short, okay?! The sign is just high up!) to hammer up the sign, and Jomy held the sign in position while I hammered it into place.

After hammering down two nails, I noticed Winry standing not too far away from our stall talking to another girl with waist length red hair tied into a braid. Winry seemed to be directing the girl to do something. I liked the position I was in because from where I was standing I could enjoy admiring Winry without her noticing. I knew I was acting like a lovesick puppy but I couldn't help it. She was really one of a kind, that Winry. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. And she couldn't say anything about me slacking off, because I was doing my job of helping with the stall, and like she asked me too, I was helping Jomy with this hammering. Yup, I liked the fact that I could do my job even while- "OUCH!" The sudden pain that shot through my thumb on my left hand caused me to teeter on the stool before crashing to the ground. At first, I didn't know what had happened to me, but then I realized that I had walloped my own finger with the hammer due to my distraction. "I'm never using the hammer with my right hand again!" I cursed, cradling my bruised thumb in my cool automail hand.

"Are you okay?" Jomy asked, startled by my sudden outburst. "Let me see your hand."

"I'm fine!" I said, annoyed with myself.

But Jomy didn't listen. He grabbed my throbbing thumb and examined it. "Well, it's not bleeding, but it's going to get swollen." He commented upon examining my bruise. "You should get some ice."

"I said I'm fine!" I grumbled, snatching my hand back, and returning in to the cradle of my right hand.

Jomy squatted next to me on the floor. "What happened?" he asked. "Did you get distracted by something? You ought to be more careful."

"It's nothing really."

Jomy gave me a look. "Or were you distracted by _someone_?"

"Just shut up and get back to work. Stop being nosey."

"Touchy!" he commented with a laugh.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

Winry was woken for the fourth time that night by the sound of thunder. She sat up in fright as another thunderclap sounded, this one louder than the first. She pulled the blanket tighter around her body as she peeked out of her window. The thunderstorm was bad and it didn't look as though it would let up anytime soon. Her eyes widened as she realized that all the decorations and stall tents that they'd put up for the fair would be destroyed at the rate this storm was going. She quickly bolted from bed and pulled on a sweat shirt before grabbing her raincoat and running to the boys' room.

"Ed, Al, wake up!" she yelled almost kicking down the door in her hurry.

"Huh? Winry, what is it?" asked Al sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"This thunderstorm will wreck all our efforts for the fair if we don't take them down," said Winry hurrying over to Ed's bed and shaking him harshly.

"Eh?" he muttered groggily. He opened his eyes to see Winry standing over him. "What's wrong?"

"Get up, Ed! And get your raincoat! We have to get down to the festival grounds before everything is ruined."

Ed looked out the window and groaned. He quickly pulled on a t-shirt and followed his brother and Winry out the door.

"Argh! Cursed rain!" growled Ed as the trio ran down the now muddy path. The mud sloshed under their wellingtons as they moved. "It's ruining my sleep."

It didn't take them long to reach their destination. Winry gasped at the sight. It was a mess! Even though it hadn't been long since the start of the storm, a lot of the things had been torn down. The streamers and other decorations where strewn all over the muddy ground, some tents had already toppled over while others were threatening to. Ed, Al and Winry weren't the first ones there. Others had also left the shelter of their homes to help save the fair, all huddled under umbrellas and colorful ponchos.

"Aw man! What do we do now?" cried Winry, picking up a stray banner off the ground.

Ed swept his golden gaze over the area before he nodded at Al. The younger Elric grinned before they clapped their hands and slapped them to the ground. There was a bright blue light as the mud on the ground and some of the trees around them were transmuted into a large dome that enveloped the whole area shielding it and them from the harsh rain. Ed sighed and rubbed his forehead. "That should hold off the rain for now. We'll try to clean up the mess properly tomorrow."

Winry stared in awe at the Elric brothers before her. "Wow! You guys are awesome!" she squealed.

Al blushed, but Ed smirked cockily and said, "Of course we are!" That earned him a whack upside the head from his sibling. "Ow, Al!" He rubbed the sore spot with a pout.

Everyone turned to look at the two brothers, and soon cheers erupted from all around while a few of their friends hurried over to greet them.

"Awesome guys!" said Andrew, patting Edward and Alphonse on the back. Edward scowled, but forced a smile, while Al's remained genuine.

"That was very cool!" a squeaky voice called from under a bright green poncho who the boys recognized as Lilly.

"So, this is the work of an alchemist!" Jomy beamed throwing an arm around Edward's shoulders. "First the Hero of Amestris, and now the Hero of Resembool's Annual Festival!"

"Stop talking nonsense, Jomy. Those are two completely different things," Ed scowled, trying to shrug Jomy off. "Could you get off now?" The boy just grinned but took his arm off the blonde. Looking closer at Jomy Ed noticed he looked a bit different. "Well, looks like you return to your male image at night!" He said, indicating towards the boy's plain black hair.

"Hey what's that supposed to mean? I was never girly!" Jomi chuckled while running a hand through his dark, wet locks and brushing his soaking fringe away from his eyes. And with his lively laughter it wasn't long before the others joined in.

After most of the fallen materials used in the fair had been rescued, many people began heading back home through the storm.

Al went over to the entrance of the dome structure and took a peek outside. The storm still looked too severe to walk back home, especially since their home wasn't too close to the location of the fair. "We better stay in here till the rain lets up," he said looking back at the other two.

"Yeah," said Ed and took some tablecloths from under a fallen tent and transmuted them into three warm, dry blankets.

"Ed! You can't transmute those into blankets!" said Winry when she saw what he did.

Ed shrugged. "You have any other option?" he asked handing one to Al.

"I guess not… but you'd better change them back to normal first thing tomorrow!" she said accepting the blanket Ed held out to her.

"Duh!"

Ed scowled when Andrew came up to Winry and wrapped his arms around her. _Why that little-! Who the hell is he to touch her like that?! _Winry, oblivious to Ed's thoughts, smiled and hugged him back.

"I'm going to head back. My dad will kill me if he finds out I snuck out in this whether," he said and kissed the girl's cheek softly.

Edward growled and clenched his fists causing the knuckles of his left hand to turn white. _It's bad enough that Winry has to date this loser, but now she has to do all this mushy stuff with him in front of me as well!_ Ed felt a comforting hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Al's warm, brown eyes looking back at him. He felt immediately calmed. When turned back the couple before him had pulled away and Andrew addressed Edward and Alphonse.

"See you guys around," he chirped and stepped out into the rain.

"I'm heading back too. My little sister can't sleep without me, especially in this weather," sighed Jomy. "See ya!"

"Bye!" said Al. He looked at Lilly. "Looks like it's just the four of us, then." He held out his blanket to the girl, a soft pink hue decorating his cheeks. "You'll feel warmer in this."

Ella looked confused. "What about you, Al?"

"Al can take mine. I'll just transmute another one," said Ed tossing his blanket at his brother. "Ahh… I'm so tired!" yawned Ed curling up into a corner with his newly transmuted blanket.

"Ed?" The said boy looked up to see Winry. "Can I share a blanket with you?"

Ed's eyes widened. "What?! Winry, are you out of your mind?"

"Please, Ed?" she begged. "It's very cold and it's still thundering…" She cringed and hugged herself at the sound of a loud thunderclap.

"You're still afraid of thunderstorms, huh?" he asked softly. "Ah, fine!" Winry beamed and happily curled up next to him, resting her head on his left shoulder. Ed swallowed to try and control the blush creeping on to his cheeks, but to no avail. He sighed and gently wrapped his arm around the girl.

A few feet away from the two, Alphonse stood watching them with a smile on his face.

"They are cute together, aren't they?" whispered Lilly. Al nodded. "Too bad she had to be dating Andrew."

"Yeah…"

"Edward really does love her, doesn't he?" she said after a moment, making Al turn to look at her in shock.

"How do you know about Ed's feelings for Winry?" he questioned, his eyes wide.

Lilly gave him a look. "Oh, come on Al! It's obvious to anyone who really looks at him. Although the easiest way to tell is by watching his reaction whenever Andrew hugs Winry or kisses her… or simply even holds her hand." She giggled.

Al laughed. "Yeah, that is the easiest way." He took one last look at the sleeping duo. "Well, we'd better try and get some sleep as well."

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**Chapter 3 finally finished! I hope y'all enjoyed it. More of AlxLilly coming on the way. **

**Thank you all so much for the reviews! Keep 'em coming! :D**

**Many thanks to my sister/editor "ASpotOfWhiteInTheBlack"!**

**Love to all.**

**Mwahz!**

**-HoPeLeSsRoMaNtIc-**


	4. Preparations for the Festival Part Two

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**Chapter Four**

**Preparations for the Festival – Part Two**

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Edward awoke to find Winry nicely curled up next to him, her arm around his waist and her head on his chest tucked under his chin. He felt his cheeks flush as he felt her hot breath against his neck. He looked down at her, admiring how beautiful she looked even in her sleep. Ed held his breath and gently brushed his fingers against her cheek affectionately. A small smile graced her soft features at his touch and she tightened her arm around his waist, nuzzling into his neck. Ed swallowed and squirmed to get rid of the butterflies that had formed in his stomach while trying not to wake her.

Winry sighed, her eyes fluttering slightly. She managed to keep them closed for a moment longer. With her eyes closed, she let her other senses explore her surroundings. She remembered the storm last night and how Ed and Al had created the dome to protect the fair from the harsh rain and winds. She couldn't remember where she was though. She shifted lightly, noticing that her pillow felt very hard against her head, though not uncomfortable. She felt something warm and soft brush her cheek. It made her smile and she tightened her hold around her pillow. She nuzzled her nose into it and breathed in the musky scent. A moment later she felt her 'pillow' move and she realized that her 'pillow' was not a pillow but actually someone's chest. That someone had his arm wrapped around her too. Winry began to panic. What if it was some kind of weirdo that was after her or something! Her eyes snapped open in that instant and she looked up to meet warm, golden orbs looking back at her, making her feel very warm and fuzzy inside. "Ed!" she exclaimed, surprised and sat up quickly, a pink hue blossoming on her already rosy cheeks.

Ed chuckled, keeping the blush from his face. "Morning, sunshine!"

Winry ignored him and looked around. She relaxed when she recognized where they were. "What time is it?" she asked turning her attention back to blonde next to her.

Ed shrugged and pulled out his watch from his pocket. "A little after six," he said as he sat up and stretched, then scratched his back. "Aw man!" he whined. "The ground was so uncomfortable! My back feels all sore."

Winry giggled. "I slept pretty well, considering the rainstorm last night."

Ed huffed. "That's because you used me as a human pillow!"

"Well, it's not my fault you're so comfortable!" She laughed and then blushed when she realized what she'd said.

Ed simply raised an eyebrow at her remark, his cheeks flaming too, but said nothing. Instead he looked around and spotted his brother and Lilly curled up not too far from them still fast asleep. He walked over to them and nudged Al with his automail hand. The boy stirred and opened his eyes. "Brother?" he muttered sleepily grinding the knuckles of his hands into his eyes.

"Time to wake up Al!" Ed reached over his sleepy sibling and gently nudged the girl next to him. "Wake up Lilly!"

"Mm-mm…" she mumbled and curled up onto her side, her back to Edward.

"We'd better get back home," he said laughing, this time poking her in her side with a steel finger.

She turned back to him and pouted, but sat up anyway and stretched like a cat. Ed turned to face the half-wrecked fair before speaking. "On second thought, we'd better clean this mess up before we go!"

"You're right Brother," said Al yawning lightly.

"Then let's d-!"

"There'll be time for that later!" said Winry, interrupting Ed. "We should go back home first. I want to take a shower. I feel filthy!"

"Me too," Lilly agreed.

"Oh alright!" Ed grumbled, giving in to the girls' wishes.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"It feels like I slept on rocks last night. My back is all stiff now!" grumbled Ed shoveling his eggs and bacon into his mouth. Al giggled and Ed glared at him. "What? So now my discomfort if funny to you, is it?"

"No Brother," said Al quickly shaking his head. "I didn't sleep well either."

"Yeah right!" Ed scoffed with his mouth still full of food. "You were all cuddled with Lilly, weren't you?" He smirked when Alphonse turned beet red.

"I was not!" he exclaimed. "And what about you? You were sleeping with Winry!"

Ed choked on his mouthful. "Shut up Al!" His face was now so red it could rival a tomato.

"Hey guys!" Winry came skipping into the kitchen. She took note of Ed's face and frowned. "Ed, you okay? You look sick."

Ed's eyes widened. _Oh shit! Please don't tell me Winry heard what Al just said._

"Ed?" she questioned. She put her hand on his forehead and he flinched at the contact. "Hmm… you don't feel warm. Maybe you should stay at home today, just in case"

Edward slapped her hand away and grumbled, "I'm fine!" He quickly stood up and ran out of the house.

"Now I know something's wrong with him; he didn't finish his breakfast!" she muttered to Alphonse. The boy giggled behind his hand.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Hey Ed!" chirped Jomy. "That was one storm last night, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," agreed Edward. He picked up some of the broken tent poles and repaired them using alchemy.

"We're real lucky to have you here mate, especially at this time. It would have cost us hell to replace all the broken materials!" muttered Joanie.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" demanded Jomy. Ed raised an eyebrow at the comment. "Not you, mate. I meant that crazy woman next to you!"

Joanie giggled and stuck her tongue at the raven haired teen. "What ever do you mean, baby brother?" the girl grinned cheekily tossing her dark hair over her shoulder. "I'm here to help out, just like you."

"You? Help out? Pshh!" scoffed Jomy. "And what do you mean by 'baby brother'?! You're only older than me by three minutes!"

"Still makes you my baby brother!" teased Joanie.

Ed's eyes widened as he recognized the girl. "Wow! Looks like you twins have changed. The last time I was here you guys were practically in love, always hugging each other when together and crying when apart."

"Yeah… well I grew up, but baby brother over there didn't!" Joanie stated smugly.

Jomy ground his teeth together. "I grew up too okay! Oooh… shiny!" he squealed suddenly and crouched near a broken down tent and pulled out a sparkly streamer, examining it with childish curiosity. Ed sweat dropped.

"I rest my case!" said Joanie folding her arms across her chest.

"Hi!" Winry greeted as she and Al caught up to the trio.

Al looked at Joanie and gasped. "Jomy, your hair grew overnight!" he exclaimed. Everyone laughed and the real Jomy snapped out of his trance.

"Wha-? It's the same as yesterday!" he cried trying to examine his strands. Al blushed as he realized that he'd mistaken Joanie for Jomy. "Is it the lime green that brings out the length?"

"Hey, it's not pink today!"Ed chuckled just noticing the green colored ends of the raven's hair. "It looks like someone just puked in your hair!" he teased laughing.

"I told him the same thing!" Joanie sneered.

"It does not!" whined her twin crying out anime tears. "I'll have you know that puke is more yellow!" He turned to Winry. "You don't think it's so bad, right? Right?" he asked desperately, pouting and displaying big, teary, anime eyes. Ed rolled his eyes at the boy's drama.

"Of course not," she soothed patting Jomy on the head.

"Uh…?" Al blinked confusedly, looking back and forth between the twins.

"Is your sister teasing you again, little brother?" came a deep brooding voice from behind Ed, Al and Winry. The trio turned to look up into the pale rosy eyes of a tall ghostly figure with pale white skin and silver hair garbed in black.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!" the brothers screamed in shock, practically climbing on top of the startled blond girl.

Jomy smirked. "Hey bro, you're a regular spook!"

"Did I do something?" the 'ghost' asked innocently.

"Bro?" Al asked timidly.

"I'm sorry for frightening you," the white haired man said, extending his hand towards the panic stricken younger Elric.

Winry sweat dropped at the two brothers still holding onto her for dear life. "You guys have been in near death situations, battling things as scary as the Homunculi and you get freaked out by something like this."

"I-I was startled!" defended Ed blushing and finally letting go of the girl.

"Sure you were!" she muttered skeptically.

"Bro…" was all Al said, still not having recovered from the shock.

"Eh? What's wrong, Al?" asked Ed poking his brother in the ribs gently. Al flinched.

"Al, you remember Jomy and Joanie's big brother Jaime don't you?" said Winry taking Al's hand and patting it.

"Brother…?" muttered Al still in a daze.

Ed frowned at his brother's reactions and turned to scowl at 'the ghost' and shook his fist at him. "Oh Edward Elric, It's been too long!" said Jaime. He grabbed the blonde and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "I'm terribly sorry for frightening you and your brother half to death." He soothed.

"Let me go!" choked Ed, his voice muffled by Jaime's shirt. He wailed his arms about trying to free himself from Jaime's grasp. But of course, the only thing Jaime heard was "Mlemf mwe mgfo!" and misunderstood it.

"Oh I missed you too!" sighed Jaime tightening his hold around the poor suffocating blonde.

_I'm going to die!_ thought Ed frantically. Just when Edward decided to flip the albino boy over his shoulder, Jaime let go of him and skipped over to Al. _Oh no! He's going to murder Al!_ He thought moving over to his little brother.

"I'm so sorry, little Alphonse Elric, for scaring the daylights out of you!" cooed Jaime.

"You can say that again," muttered Winry under her breath. Joanie giggled.

"It will not happen again," he promised and pulled Al into a loving hug and gently stroked the younger boy's hair comfortingly all the while muttering, "There, there… you're alright!"

"And you call me girly!" muttered Jomy. Ed smirked at the raven while massaging his bruised shoulders. "He's such a drama _queen_!"

"So that makes you the drama _king_ then?" Ed asked chuckling.

"Aw shaddap!" scowled Jomy.

Jaime let go of Alphonse and stroked his chin. "You're alright now, aren't you little one…"

Ed's eyebrow twitched. "Stop molesting him, you!" he shrieked. He grabbed Al and yanked him away from the silver haired man.

"Brother!" cried Al in shock.

Jaime turned his confused look to Jomy. "Did I do something wrong, little brother? What ever does he mean?" he asked innocently. Edward snorted indignantly. "Oh my, little Jomy… aren't you filthy!" he stated noticing a small smudge of dirt on Jomy's pale nose. "Come; let me take care of it for you." He whipped out a clean, white handkerchief from within his sleeve.

"Nooooo…!" squealed Jomy running away, trying to put as much distance as possible between him and his brother. Jaime followed in hot pursuit echoing 'come back little brother'.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

Winry was in her workshop when Ed awoke the next day. The blonde sat in the room at her work table working on some new designs for an automail arm. "Geez Winry, don't you think it's a bit too early for all this?" yawned Ed still dressed in his pajamas which consisted of a black short sleeved t-shirt and his light blue boxers.

"It's my latest model and I'm designing it for you!" she said sketching out the details in each finger. Ed peeked over her shoulder and scratched his head.

"It looks pretty much the same," he said comparing the drawing to his own automail. "Besides, why would I need new automail?"

"You've outgrown yours. Haven't you noticed?"

Ed frowned and stretched out both his arms in front of him to measure the growth change. "Holy cow! My arm has grown! Maybe…" He sat down on the couch in the room to compare his legs. "I'm a whole inch taller!" he cheered happily. "Phew! I thought if it was only my arms I might start to resemble a gorilla!" He joked swinging his arms around like a monkey.

Winry laughed. "At least you're _finally _taller than me!" she teased.

"What does _finally _mean?!" Ed demanded. "I outgrew you years ago!"

"Really now?" she said thoughtfully. "You were always short to me!"

"DON'T CALL ME SHORT, YOU AUTOMAIL JUNKIE!" he roared shaking his fists.

Winry just chuckled at his antics. "Okay Ed, enough fooling around," she said kicking him out of the room. "Get out! I have work to do. You can be a dear and go get me some breakfast."

"You can't get your own?" Ed groaned.

"I'm working Ed," she said. "I have to finish this before you leave!"

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

Ed was just buttering his toast in the kitchen when a knock sounded on the front door. He grabbed his toast and Winry's plate of food and went to answer the door. He held his slice of toast between his teeth to free his right hand and opened the door to find Lilly standing on the porch holding a basket of ripe red apples. She smiled at Ed. "Hawo!" he greeted, his voice muffled by the bread he held in his mouth.

Lilly giggled. "Hi, Ed. May I come in?" she asked.

Ed spat the toast out onto Winry's plate and stepped aside grinning. "Sure! What's up?" he asked leading her into the kitchen. He put aside Winry's plate and offered to make Lilly some toast.

"No thanks, Edward," she smiled at him.

"Who was it at the door, Ed?" said Winry coming in to the kitchen dressed in her purple coveralls. "Oh it's you, Lilly."

"Hey, Winry! I got you those apples you wanted," said the brunette placing the basket on the kitchen table.

"Thanks, Lilly. Oh there's my toast," she said picking up the first one on the pile and biting into the corner. She chewed a bit and frowned. "Edward, why is my toast a bit soggy at the end?" Ed choked on the water he was drinking when he realized that Winry had eaten the toast that he'd held in his mouth only a moment ago. Lilly giggled as she realized this too.

"Uh… I might have spilled a bit of water on it," he lied quickly knowing that if he told her the truth he would have suffered a series of horrible bruises. He hoped that she would buy his white lie.

"Well you should be more careful," she said finishing of the toast and reaching for another.

Ed laughed sheepishly. "Yeah…" he mumbled. Then looking for a change of topic he asked, "Didn't you wash your hands before eating, you grease monkey?"

Winry glared at him for the comment and said, "Of course I did!" she said throwing a dish towel at him. Ed caught it before it hit his face and chuckled.

"Well, what did you want the apples for, Winry?" asked Lilly curiously.

"I wanted to bake an apple pie today," she answered, dusting any crumbs off her hands and starting to wash the apples.

Ed just perched himself at the table with a new piece of toast and picked up the alchemy book he had been reading. He read through the book only occasionally catching what the girls were talking about.

"So, has Andrew asked you to the fair yet?" Lilly asked while helping Winry with the apple pie.

Winry sighed. "Nope. There's only tomorrow left and he hasn't said anything about the fair!"

"Hmm… maybe you should ask him," Lilly suggested.

"Maybe I should," thought Winry out loud.

"Isn't it normally the guy's job to ask the girl or whatever?" asked Ed setting aside his book and walking to the fridge to pour himself a cool glass of lemonade. "You girls want some?"

"Girls can ask guys too," said Lilly. "And yes please."

"Maybe that loser doesn't want to go with you," Edward said placing two glasses full of lemonade in front of the two girls. "Besides, he isn't worthy of you… maybe he finally realized that."

"Oh? And why wouldn't he be _worthy _of me?" Winry asked raising an eyebrow at the alchemist.

Ed smirked. "Because he's a pig-headed, presumptuous, prideful, egoistical and selfish bastard! Want me to continue?"

Winry just smacked him on the head with a spoon and said, "Don't talk about Andrew like that!"

"Hey, you asked me why he wasn't worthy of you and I told you. There's nothing good about him!" Ed defended rubbing the bruise on his head.

"You do realize you were describing yourself, right?" Winry scoffed. "Andrew happens to be a very sweet, kind, helpful, understanding and selfless guy, unlike you!" Ed growled.

"Yeah! You forgot to mention boring, ridiculous, idiotic, stupid-!" Ed began angrily before he got another whack to the head.

"Shut up, Edward! Like you could know anything about him when you're hardly even around!" Winry interjected.

Lilly sighed at their bickering and smiled at Al who'd just walked in. "What's going on?" he asked eyeing his brother argue with Winry.

"They're bickering about something silly, nothing much really."

Al laughed. "Ah, of course!" He walked over to her. "Baking an apple pie?"

"Yep! You want to help? Winry looks… uhh... a little busy," said Lilly watching as the blonde girl hit poor Ed with the spoon again.

"Um…" Al looked uncertainly at her. "I don't know… I've never baked anything before." He admitted.

"Aw don't worry. I have. I'll teach you!" Lilly offered, smiling softly. Al nodded shyly, feeling his cheeks heat up too.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Hey Jaime, pass up the banner please!" Winry called down to the albino boy who was standing at the foot of the ladder she was on.

"Here you go, sweetie," Jaime said reaching up to Winry to pass one end of the banner then walked over to his sister Joanie, who was on a ladder at the other end, to give her the other corner.

After tying up the banner tightly onto the pole on her end of the streamer Winry made her way down the ladder.

"I'll get the other banner," Jaime sang turning toward the big pile of boxes.

"Alright, the next one is – Ow!" before Winry could finish her sentence, she felt the rung under her foot snap in two, and the next thing she knew was that she was on her butt on the hard floor.

"Winry! Are you okay?" two voices called out to her.

"I'm fine," she assured. But when she tried to stand up a searing pain shot through her leg and she fell back down. She heard someone gasp next to her and looked up to see Jaime with his hands clasped over his mouth and his eyes staring uneasily at her leg. At first Winry didn't know what was wrong with him, until she looked at her foot and saw the gash on her ankle spilling blood.

"Brother, go and find someone to help." Joanie said shoving her brother away from the sight of the blood. "Someone like Edward." Jaime nodded and hurried away.

"Ed's probably working at the 'Ring Toss' stand," Winry called after the fleeing man.

It didn't take Jaime long to find Edward hammering down a sign on top of the stall that read 'The Ring Toss'. "Edward! Oh, Edward!" he called before he even reached him.

"What is it, Jaime?" Ed asked the unnerved looking man.

"She… she…" he stuttered, unable to get the sight of blood out of his head. "She…"

"Who?! What happened?" Edward asked grabbing a hold of the disturbed boy's shoulders and shaking them lightly.

"Blood… Winry… fell…!" were the only words he managed to get out, but they weren't satisfactory enough for Edward, especially since Winry seemed to be involved.

"Winry?" Ed asked and Jaime nodded. "Take me to her," he asked. At first Edward thought that he might refuse because the poor man looked just about ready to faint, but he just nodded again and indicated towards Edward to follow. Jaime took him to the place where Edward knew she was working. That was something Edward had sort of expected, but what he didn't expect was to see her sitting against the pole with her leg stretched out, and Joanie kneeling down by her legs with her hand around Winry's left ankle. Through Joanie's fingers Edward spied a handkerchief soaked in blood. Ed panicked, while Jaime walked forward shakily and handed Joanie another one of his clean hankies, then moved away so that he wouldn't be able to see the blood oozing out of Winry's leg. "Winry, what happened to you?!" Ed asked rushing forward to sit down by Winry's injured ankle to examine the wound.

"I fell off the ladder," Winry explained calmly pointing towards the wooden ladder she had climbed which was leaning against the side of the tent. Edward saw that the second from last rung had broken into two, which was probably how she got hurt. "I think it was a piece of the broken wood that pierced my ankle. I'm not sure, it happened too suddenly," she continued. Edward nodded and Winry turned to look at Jaime who was looking rather sickly.

"I'm sorry," Jaime muttered from behind his hand.

Winry understood that he was apologizing for his fear of blood. "It's not your fault, Jaime. Why don't you go and get yourself something to drink?" she said kindly. Jaime nodded, and after another soft apology he left them. Ed examined the wound before he took Jaime's handkerchief from Joanie's hands and wrapped it around Winry's ankle to form a makeshift bandage.

"It looks like it cut a little too deep. We'd better get you home to clean that up," Ed muttered to Winry and placed his right arm around her shoulders and the other under her legs. Winry wrapped her arms tightly around Ed's neck as he lifted her into his arms.

"What about the work here?" Winry asked. "There's still so much to do!"

"Forget the work here, girl! We'll look after that," Joanie said. "You just worry about that ankle of yours."

Winry nodded and Edward began to head towards the Rockbell house. About halfway to their destination, she remembered that she hadn't seen Andrew at all that day and that she didn't get her chance to ask him to the fair. She sighed dejectedly and buried her head in the crook of Ed's neck.

Ed blushed when he felt Winry's nose brush against his neck but frowned when he heard her sigh. "You alright, Winry?" he asked gently.

Winry simply sighed again and muttered, "I guess, I won't be going to the fair with Andrew."

Ed's eyebrows knitted in a much deeper frown and he was silent for a few minutes before he spoke carefully. "You know, if you really want a date that badly and if your dumb boyfriend won't take you…" he paused "I could take you… you know, if you want…" Winry lifted her head off Ed's shoulder and looked at him, taken aback by his words, but the boy's eyes were simply focused on the dirt path ahead of them.

Ed was afraid to look at the girl, worried that she might have taken his words the wrong way and yell at him. He swallowed nervously and decided to concentrate on taking her home to treat her wound. _Stupid Ed! Why the hell did you have to go ahead and ask something like that?! She's surely going to think you're weird now!_ He thought, angry at himself.

Winry, however, just smiled as she thought of what Ed had said to her. _Ed's so sweet sometimes!_ She laid her head back against his neck, smiling sleepily. "Sure Ed. That'll be nice!" she whispered and closed her eyes as the sleep consumed her in the comfort of his arms.

The blonde blinked, not sure whether he'd heard her correctly. "Winry?" he called hesitantly, but found that she'd fallen asleep. He sighed, relieved that she hadn't hit him, as a smile tilted the corners of his lips at his best friend's actions.

* * *

**Well, it was getting too long so I had to stop. I hope you enjoyed it! :)**

**Oh, by the way, Jaime's name is pronounced 'Jay-mee'. Just so you know.**

**I'm flying to Sri Lanka on Saturday and I'll be there for about 2 weeks so the next chapter might come out later than usual. I'll try my best to update while I'm there, but I can't make any promises.**

**Please send me your feedback! The reviews are what keep me writing. It gives me the feeling that y'all like the story so I feel like continuing it! So don't be afraid to click the little green button at the bottom of the page. ;)**

**I really have to add more AlxLilly in the fic. Hopefully there'll be more of them in the next chapter.**

**Hugs,**

**-HoPeLeSsRoMaNtIc- **


	5. Sticky Sweet Dates

**

* * *

****Chapter Five**

**Sticky Sweet Dates****

* * *

**

"How's your ankle?" asked Ed as he brought Winry's breakfast into her room. On returning home after her accident and examining the wound carefully Ed had found that the cut had indeed been pretty deep and decided that it would take a few days for it to heal completely. Both the Elric brothers had fussed over the girl and forced her to stay in bed until the cut had healed properly. When at first Winry had said that she wanted to attend the fair that was taking place the next day Ed had been against it, but after some arguing and pleading on Winry's part Ed had given in saying that she could go if she stayed in bed until the start of the event. Winry didn't complain, even though she worried that she wouldn't be able to get any work done for her automail customers. But when she voiced her thoughts, Edward had just shushed her and said that her wellbeing was much more important than a couple of late automail limbs.

"It's better," she said accepting the tray. Ed pulled up a chair next to her bed and sat down. The two sat in a comfortable silence while Winry ate. "Hey Ed," she called after swallowing a mouthful of food. "Did you mean what you told me before?"

"Before? What are you talking about?" he asked confusion marring his handsome face.

"Yesterday, when you asked me to go to the fair with you…" She blushed. "Did you mean it?"

Ed colored as he remembered what she was talking about. "Uh… do you want me to mean it?"

Winry chewed carefully on another mouthful as she thought about Ed just said. "Yeah, I guess… as friends."

_As friends huh?_ Ed thought to himself sadly. "Alright Winry, it's a date!" he smiled for her. The room was once again filled with silence, though this time it was mostly because Ed was trying to keep his thoughts organized and not blab his heart out to the girl sitting in front of him about his feelings for her. _As friends… _Her words crossed his mind again. It made him realize how much he wanted her. But he knew that he wouldn't cross that friendship line for fear of losing her altogether. Ed was willing to sacrifice his heart for Winry's happiness. After all, that's what best friends did for each other. A knock on the door snapped Ed out of his thoughts and he turned to see his little brother poking his head into the room.

"Brother, Andrew's here. He wanted to see Winry," Al said softly and stepped aside to let the boy in. Ed frowned when he saw Winry's face light up as her boyfriend walked into the room.

"Winry, are you okay?" Andrew asked concern lacing his words. "I heard you got injured!"

"I'm fine Drew," Winry smiled reassuringly. "It's just a scratch."

"Oh! Thank goodness!" Andrew sighed in relief.

Edward scoffed. _Stupid mutt! It's all his bloody fault. He's supposed to be her so-called boyfriend. He should have been there to prevent her falling! And now poor Winry is hurt!_ Ed caught Al's eye who was still lingering in the doorway. He motioned to Ed to move away and give the couple some privacy. _Privacy?!_ Ed scowled. _No way in hell!_ He shook his head stubbornly. Al frowned at him and left the room, leaving a very grumpy Edward behind him. But the next thing Edward knew was that Pinako was calling him from downstairs. That was something that couldn't be avoided so he stepped out of the room grudgingly and stomped down the stairs.

Pinako was seated out on the porch contentedly smoking her pipe. "What is it, Granny?"

"Hm? Do you need something, Edward?" she asked looking up at the fuming blonde boy.

"Didn't you call me?" Ed asked frowning.

"No, I didn't. Why?"

Ed's frown deepened at the reply. The sound of laughter followed by a dog's barking made him look up to see his brother running around the garden with a delighted Den chasing him, and that immediately made him realize what had happened. Alphonse had used him as a target to practice his well accomplished talent of voice impersonation.

"Why that little - !" Edward grumbled under his breath when Pinako interrupted him.

"Well Ed, since you're down here could you do me a little favor?"

"What is it?"

"Could you run down to the store and buy some fresh milk? We're all out," asked Pinako puffing her pipe. "I was going to send Al but the boy seems to be having a lot of fun and I don't have the heart to make him stop."

"Sure Granny, no problem!" said Edward, though he didn't really want to. What he wanted to do was march right back to Winry's room and kick that git out of the house.

"There's money on the counter," said the old lady turning her attention back towards the garden.

"Great, Al managed to trick me out of the room and as a reward he got out of doing the shopping!" Ed grumbled and left the house and made his way down to the local store.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"I was so worried about you, Winry! Nobody ever told me that it was just a minor injury." Andrew said sitting in the seat Ed had been occupying earlier and taking Winry's hand.

"I just fell off the ladder, Drew! No biggie."

"Yeah," Andrew nodded absentmindedly playing with her fingers. "Edward doesn't like me, does he?" he asked after a long while.

Winry looked at her boyfriend, startled by his sudden out-of-the-blue question. "No, Drew! It's not like that at all. Ed's just very overprotective. He worries about me a lot. Al too," she said reassuringly patting Andrew's hand. "Ed can be a little hostile towards people he thinks might harm the ones he cares about. In this case, he's probably worried that if I date you I might end up getting hurt, so he's not very supportive of our relationship. It's just the kind of person he is, so don't take it personally."

After a moment's silence Andrew spoke, "If you're not really that badly injured, why are you in bed?"

Winry laughed a little before answering. "This is all Ed's doing, again being his overprotective self. He told me that if I don't stay in bed and rest my foot, he won't let me attend the festival tomorrow."

"That's right!" exclaimed Andrew all of a sudden, alarming Winry. "I was so scared for you that I forgot all about the fair." He smiled.

Winry began to have a silent panic attack. _Please don't let him ask me to be his date!_ She prayed.

"Will you be my date for the fair, Winry?"

_Oh shit!_

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Alright, Den. Go get it!" Al encouraged and threw the stick for the dog to chase. "Good boy," he cooed petting the dog and scratching him behind the ears once he brought the stick back.

"Hey Al!" The boy turned to find Lilly standing behind him, watching him play with Den.

"Hi Lilly," Al greeted with a smile. "What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to see you guys… and check on how Winry's doing," she said, petting Den who'd come to greet her.

"Why does everyone seem to think that I'm so badly injured? It's just a scratch," came Winry's voice from the front doorway.

Lilly laughed. "Well, Ed certainly seems to make a big deal out of it. Why shouldn't everyone else?"

Winry shrugged. "Ed's just Ed. He's always like that."

"Shouldn't you be in bed, Winry?" asked Al.

"Ed's not home and what he doesn't know won't hurt him!"

"Well I'm here, aren't I?" Al grinned. "So go on Winry, march back up to your room and rest your leg, or we won't let you go for the opening of the fair! We had a deal, so you better stick to it!"

"He's right, love." Andrew came up behind Winry and put an arm around her shoulders. "I have to go back and help out with the preparations. Think you can manage walking up by yourself?" he teased.

"I'll be fine, silly!" Winry giggled swatting his arm playfully.

"No worries, Drew! I'll look after her!" Lilly laughed climbing up the porch steps to them.

"Thanks, Lilly. Take care, sweetie," Andrew lowered his head to give Winry a quick peck on the cheek and disappeared down the lane.

"Come on in, Lilly," Winry said limping her way back into the house.

"Wait up for me!" Al called, throwing the stick for Den one last time before jogging after them.

"Actually," Winry hesitated before him, blocking his way up the stairs. "I was hoping that Lilly and I would get some time to have some girl talk, if you get what I mean Al…"

Al flushed. "S-sure Winry, I'll just stay down here then."

"Thanks Al!" Winry flashed him a smile before vanishing up the stairs.

"Poor Al!" Lilly said once the girls were safe in Winry's room. "So what's this 'girl talk' you wanted to have?"

"I'm in trouble Lilly! Help!" Winry cried grabbing hold of Lilly's shoulders and shaking her.

"O-okay Winry, let's sit down and talk. I'm all ears," the baffled girl suggested, leading Winry to the bed.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Hey, little brother!" Edward yawned walking into the kitchen and stuffing the milk into the fridge.

Al looked up from a puzzle he was solving in a newspaper and smiled. "Welcome home, Brother."

"Pft! Don't try to be cute, Al. I'm still pissed with you!" Ed grumbled walking over to look at Al's puzzle.

"Huh? What do you mean, Brother?" Al asked, feigning innocence.

"Join-the-dots?" Ed asked raising an eyebrow at his brother's 'puzzle'. "What are you, three?"

"I was bored, Brother!" Al blushed.

"Well then you could've kept Winry company in her room," Ed said moving towards the staircase.

"She wouldn't let me in!" Al muttered. "And you better not go to her room. Lilly's up there with her, and Winry said they were going to have a _girl talk_, whatever that means!"

"Girl talk, eh?" Ed asked looking up the stairs. "Well then, if they're going to have _girl talk_, we can have a little man-to-man talk! What do you say?" the older brother grinned taking a seat opposite Al.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"So let me get this straight," Lilly said. "You said yes to Ed, as well as Andrew?" Winry nodded. "Why would you do that?"

"It was kind of an accident!" Winry said defensively. "You see, I couldn't say no to Andrew because he's my boyfriend, but I had already promised Ed that I'd go with him! Oh Lilly, what do I do?"

"Well honey, I think you should cancel your date with one of them!" suggested the brunette after a thought. "Actually the _right_ thing to do would be to cancel your date with Andrew, since he was the last to ask you. But since he's your boyfriend, it complicates things. Didn't you say Ed and you were going as friends? So, I guess it's _alright_ to cancel with Ed." She shrugged.

"You're not helping you know," pouted Winry. "It's either 'right' or 'alright'!"

"I can't make that choice for you, Winry. It's up to you to pick 'right' or 'alright'!" Lilly sighed and stood up. "I'd better get back to the fair. There's still work to do, you know."

"Yeah," Winry said staring at her blanket. "See you, Lilly."

"See you, Winry. You take care, okay?" Lilly gave the blonde a hug and let herself out of the room.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"So?" Ed asked prodding his brother with his automail finger. "When are you going to ask her?"

"Ask who?" Al questioned confused.

"Lilly, of course!"

"What am I to ask Lilly?" Al continued innocently.

"Don't play dumb, Alphonse!" Ed grinned. "When are you going to ask Lilly to the festival?"

Color rushed to Al's cheeks. "What are you talking about, Brother? Who said I was going to ask her anyways!" Edward rolled his eyes. "Besides, what about you? Aren't you going to ask Winry?" he blurted. Al expected his brother to throw a fit, but to his surprise, Ed did quite the opposite.

Ed just casually leaned back on the hind legs of his chair and propped his feet up on the table. "I already asked her Al!" Ed shrugged indifferently, as though it didn't really matter, but Al knew better than that. But at the moment, the fact that his brother actually asked his long-time crush on a date wasn't the first thing that came to his mind.

"You asked Winry to the fair?"

"Yup," Ed said smugly.

"And you didn't tell me?!" Al sounded betrayed.

"Huh?" Ed couldn't help but ask, confusion lacing his voice.

"How could you keep something like this from me?! Your own brother!" Al cried. "I thought I'd be the first to know!"

"Aw, c'mon Al! You _are_ the first to know!" Ed said sounding exasperated. "And I just confirmed it with Winry today, so I'm still telling you pretty early. Besides, it's not a date. We're going as friends."

"Oh!" Al said sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry, Brother!"

The sound of footsteps was heard on the staircase, before Lilly entered the kitchen. "Hey guys!" she greeted them. "I was just about to go back to the fair construction site, any of you coming?"

"No we-" Al started but was interrupted by his brother kicking him in the shin. The boy yelped in pain.

"Al would love to join you!" Ed grinned. "But I think I'll stay at home to babysit Winry."

"I'll bet she wouldn't like to hear you say that!" Lilly giggled. "C'mon Al, let's go! See you later, Ed!" she said leaving the kitchen. Ed gave her a small wave.

Al scowled at his brother's sneakiness before standing up to follow Lilly. But before he left, Ed grabbed his arm. "Don't miss your chance, little brother!" he whispered to Al with a grin before releasing Al and pushing him out the door after Lilly before his protests could arise.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

**Alphonse POV:**

We walked together in silence towards the fair. Well, not really in silence since Lilly was humming the tune of a song that I didn't recognize. I found it rather pleasant. My head buzzed with the words Ed told me in the kitchen. _ How do I ask her…? Should I ask her?_ The questions flew around in my head as I walked next to Lilly.

I suddenly, for absolutely no reason, began to wonder what Lilly thought of me when she looked at me. Did I look cool in her eyes? Average? Or was I just another idiot? I immediately began feeling self-conscious, and struggled to compose myself. When thinking about how to act 'cool' the first person who came into my head was my brother, Edward. Sure he was arrogant and rude, but he was also funny and caring and nonchalant and people loved him. Yup, he was a pretty good role-model.

Feeling a bit tired of people always looking at me like 'Edward's cute little brother', I tried to make myself look different. It was rather simple; all I had to do was follow my role-model! Ed always walked with an air of confidence around him, and his hands stuck in his pockets when relaxing, so that's just what I did, not forgetting to carry myself in that laid-back fashion as well.

It seemed to be working! I caught Lilly eyeing me from the corners of her eyes. I grinned at her and tried to make conversation. "So Lilly," I asked, running a hand through my short hair in a care-free manner. "What are your plans for the festival?" I directed my gaze towards the sky, something I noticed Brother did quite often, to look like as though I didn't really care about what her reply was going to be.

Lilly looked at me strangely. "I don't understand what you mean," she said, her eyes not leaving my face.

I felt a blush creeping up to my cheeks but I resisted and tried to hold it back. "I mean, do you have a date?" I pressed, wondering what her answer might be. I tried to keep from looking directly into her eyes, which was something I normally did while talking to people. It usually helped me understand what they were feeling much better.

"Date? No, I don't have a date." She said casually, still not averting her gaze. "Do you?"

What my brother told me just before I left the kitchen popped into my head just at that moment. _Don't miss your chance, little brother! _He had said. Was this the chance? "No, I don't have a date either," I replied to her question, still debating with myself in my head.

"Well then, would you like to go with me?" Lilly asked, without giving me a chance to make up my mind. I didn't really understand what she was saying, because I was still trying to get my mind to settle down.

"Uh, yeah sure." I replied casually to whatever she had said without looking at her. I caught a slightly disappointed look on her face, just as we entered the fair grounds, but I didn't get the chance to ask her anything about it as she hurried away to her duties with a quick wave and left me standing around trying to maintain my _cool_ image, through all the confusion that bubbled in the pit of my stomach at her quick departure.

"Hey Al!"

"Aaaahhh!" I screamed in surprise, all efforts of 'coolness' gone. I spun around to face Jomy who held his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. "Why does everyone in your family have the habit of sneaking up behind others and scaring the life out of them?" I scowled, trying to regain my cool.

"Naw!" he grinned, fiddling with a strand of his hair, of which this time the lower strands had been colored a fluorescent yellow which stood out against the rest of his black hair and plain black t-shirt. "My _little_ sister doesn't have the habit of scaring people!"

"Hi, little big brother!"

"Kyaaaa!" Jomy squealed, jumping on top of me and toppling us both to the ground. I struggled from under the startled boy to look at the person who had scared him. She was a small girl, about five or six years old, her dark hair tied up into two pig-tails with bright red ribbons and had big brown eyes.

"Janie!" Jomy groaned and scrambled to his feet. "Don't do that!" The little girl smiled innocently at him. He turned around to look at me and said "You remember my little sister, don't you?" he grinned, patting the top of her head adoringly.

I nodded, getting up off the floor and smiling at the kid before grinning at Jomy and muttering, "Doesn't have a habit of scaring, huh?"

"Okay, okay… You were right!" he said, chuckling loudly. "She takes after me after all!" I joined in the laughter.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

Lilly marched up the porch steps of the yellow house and welcomed herself into the house, something Winry had asked her to do whenever she came over. After greeting Pinako at the kitchen, she walked up to Winry's room.

"Hey Winry," she greeted entering the said girl's room. "How are you doing?"

"Great, thanks!" Winry replied, inviting her to sit on the bed with her.

"I was talking about your date dilemma," she said settling down next to her friend.

"Uhh… well…"

"You didn't tell Ed yet?!" Lilly asked, her tone incredulous.

"Eheh… no…" Winry sighed staring down at her hands.

"You didn't tell Andrew either, did you?"

Winry shook her head solemnly. "I don't know who to uh… ditch," she muttered then wailed. "That's such a horrible word!"

"I don't know," Lilly shrugged. "You're the only one who can fix this mess!"

"Yeah thanks a lot!" Winry huffed crossing her arms over her chest. "How can I tell Andrew? And how do I tell Ed that Drew asked me to the fair?"

"Well I-" Lilly fell silent, when the girls heard the doorknob turn and the door creek open.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

**Edward POV:**

"Edward!"called Pinako.

"What is it, Granny?" I sighed from the living room, putting down my book regretfully and following the voice into the kitchen.

"There you are," she said turning to face me, a tray with two glasses of milk and a plateful of cookies in hand. "Take these to Winry's room, would you?"

I made a face at the milk but as long as it wasn't for me I didn't complain. "Sure," I said taking the tray and tromping up the stairs to Winry's house. While I tried to balance the tray in one hand and open the door with the other, the girls' voices seeped through the door.

"_You're the only one who can fix this mess!"_ A voice that I recognized as Lilly's came through the door.

Following her voice was Winry's. _"How can I tell Andrew? And how do I tell Ed that Drew asked me to the fair?"_ she said. I stopped short.

_That bastard actually asked her to the fair? _I couldn't even begin to contain my disappointment when I realized what Winry was considering. I longed to get back to my room and to my books of Alchemy, back to my sanctuary, away from the door and Winry. I would have if it wasn't for the tray in my hands. What would old lady Pinako say if I didn't give the goodies to them? So sucking in a deep breath I turned the door knob and entered the room without knocking.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Hey girls!" Ed smiled entering Winry's room and holding out the tray to them. "Granny sent these up for you guys."

Lilly eyed the tray and smiled. "Wow, Granny is an angel!"

"Yeah," Winry nodded in agreement, watching Edward for any signs that he had overheard any part of their conversation.

"I don't see what's so angelic about serving milk!" Ed muttered making a sour face at the milk. It certainly didn't look like he had heard anything, so feeling a little reassured, Winry dug into the plate of cookies.

"Well, have fun with your 'girl-talk'," Ed said turning to leave the room, stealing a cookie as he did so.

"Wait a second, Edward." Lilly grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the chair that stood by Winry's bed. "I need to talk to you two about something. Well I need to ask you something, actually."

_Oh no! She isn't going to ask him so bluntly whether he overheard us or not, is she?_ Winry panicked in her head. _ Ed will certainly think we're hiding something from him. And that won't be a lie either!_

"It's about Al," Lilly continued.

"Al?" Ed and Winry echoed in unison.

"Is he alright?!" Ed asked standing up, worry etched onto his face.

"Relax, he's fine… I think."

"You think?"

"Ed, did you notice Al acting a little strangely today?" she asked looking a little puzzled. "Because he was, while we were walking to the fair." Winry and Edward exchanged a confused look.

"Did you say anything to him?" Winry asked.

"Well I did ask him to the fair, to which he agreed…" She blushed, while Ed and Winry grinned widely. "… but he was acting strange before that!"

"Define strange," Edward said, leaning forward in his seat, interested in the conversation.

"Well, he started walking funny at first and then talking weird!" Lilly recalled while tapping her chin with a finger. "Come to think of it, he acted kind of like you, Ed."

"YOU THINK I'M WEIRD AND WALK FUNNY?!" Ed exploded standing up and growling at the brunette.

"Calm down, Edward!" Winry scolded. "Go on, Lilly."

"No Ed, I don't think you're weird," Lilly reassured him with a smile. "Just that Al looks weird when he acts like that!"

Edward nodded and sat back down. "I wonder why," he said offhandedly, leaning back in his chair. He exchanged another look with Winry and they both grinned again.

Just then the sound of footsteps was heard on the stairs, and Al's voice reached their ears. "Brother, Brother!" he called. "I need to talk to you!" For a moment his voice faded away as he went to Edward's room, but it rose again as he got closer to them. "Brother?" he called, pushing the door to Winry's room open. "Are you in here?" He hesitated when he saw that Lilly was in the room as well.

"H-hey Lilly," he greeted her, his cheeks reddening.

"Hi Al," she smiled sweetly at him, colour creeping onto her cheeks as well.

Ed and Winry looked from Al to Lilly and then looked to each other, a knowing look passing between them.

* * *

**ZOMG! What's Ed going to do now? Who will Winry pick? Find out in the next chapter! ;D**

**Well, I'm back from Sri Lanka. I'm sorry for the delay, guys. I've just been busy with studying for exams I have coming up in November.**

**Well? How was it?**

**Many thanks to my reviewers and those who favourited this fic. Me loves you!**

**Thanks to ASpotOfWhiteInTheBlack for all her help!**

**Please don't forget to leave a review. :)**

**Eid Mubarak to you people! :D**

**Love,**

**-HoPeLeSsRoMaNtIc-**


	6. Resembool Annual Festival Part One

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* * *

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Chapter Six

Resembool Annual Festival - Part One

* * *

Ed sat on the porch steps of Rockbell house gazing up into the heavens. Night had fallen and the almost full moon illuminated the earth, the radiant glow making the surroundings look almost magical. The sky was littered with the numerous stars that twinkled happily, as if mocking Ed's troubled mood. _Why did you have to pick him over me, Winry? _He thought angrily clenching his fists. _Damn Andrew!_

"Ed?" Winry said limping out on to the porch. Edward looked over his shoulder when she called his name. "What are you doing out here, Ed?"

"You should be resting that ankle of yours," he said, ignoring her question and looking back up at the sky.

"Oh I'm fine, Edward!" She sat down next to him and studied his face. Something did not seem right. "Are you alright? Something seems to be troubling you."

"I'm fine," he muttered.

"Yeah right!" she said, upset that he wasn't telling her what the problem was.

Ed sat silently for a moment before he spoke. "We should go inside. You could catch a cold."

"Don't change the subject, _Edward_!" she exclaimed, pushing him back down as he made to stand up. "Now, stop being an ass and tell me what's wrong!"

Ed smiled at her. "It's nothing, Win, really… You should rest your ankle for your date with Andrew tomorrow."

Winry blinked in surprise. "What are you talking about, Ed? I thought I was going to the fair with _you_…"

"Sorry, but I overheard you earlier when you were talking with Lilly in your room." Ed muttered staring at his feet. "You mentioned something about him asking you… "

Winry gasped. "I never said that I was going with Andrew," she said, now realizing what had been troubling her best friend. "Sure, he did ask me to the fair…" She smiled. "But I said no."

Edward snapped his head up in shock. "Wha-?"

"I called him up after Lily left and told him that I couldn't go with him." She said.

Ed was speechless. "But w-why?" he managed to stutter after a while.

"What do you mean 'why'?" she asked.

"Why did you tell him that you couldn't go with him?" Ed asked softly, still in recovering from the shock that Winry had actually picked him over her boyfriend.

Winry giggled. "Because my best friend asked me first, silly!" Ed blushed and looked away. "You still want to go with me, right?" she asked then, a little unsurely.

Ed looked back at her. "Of course I do."

"Good!" She stood up and wobbled a bit before Ed grabbed her arms and steadied her. Winry smiled up at him alluringly, her sapphire eyes capturing his gold and causing a soft pink to touch his cheeks. They stood there in silence, staring at each other and Winry felt her cheeks warm at the intense look she saw in his eyes.

Then Ed shook his head, breaking eye contact with the girl and cleared his throat. "You'll catch a cold if you don't go back inside," he muttered before leading her into the house.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

On the day of the festival Edward awoke feeling unusually excited and giddy. "Morning, little brother!" chirped Ed ruffling up his brother's hair affectionately as he took a seat next to him at the kitchen table and poured himself a glass of orange juice.

Al smirked at his brother's jovial attitude knowing very well the real cause of it. "Good morning, Brother. Excited, are we?" he teased.

Ed grinned in response. "Well of course. It's been a while since the last time we attended the festival."

"Yes, it has been a while. But that's not what I was talking about," said Al, his smirk growing. "You all ready for your date with Winry?"

Ed blushed. "I told you, it's not a date!" he whined. "It's just two friends hanging out and having a good time at the festival!"

"Oh, really? Then can I join you?" Al asked grinning inwardly at his brother's reactions.

Ed hesitated. "Wha-? Wait a minute. Don't you have a date with Lily?"

Al blushed softly at the mention of his _date_ with Lily. "Yeah, but if it's just friends we could join you…"

"No!" Ed said a little too fast, his face now beginning to take on the shade of a ripe tomato. "Uh… I mean, Winry and I wouldn't want to ruin _your_ date with Lily. We would just be like third wheel." Al chuckled at his brother. The older Elric just stuck his tongue out at the younger and gulped down the rest of his juice.

A knock on the door alerted the boys and Edward got up to go see who it was. "Yo, Alphonse!" he called from the living room as he shut the door. "Someone for you!"

**Alphonse POV:**

"Me?" I wondered out loud, getting up from my seat at the table and walking into the living room. Waiting for me was the most beautiful creature I'd ever laid eyes on. I couldn't help but gawk at the stunning girl standing there with her long, chocolate brown locks cascading softly down her back wearing a cute sea-foam green baby-doll dress, with her small feet in white sandals.

Lily blushed as his honey gaze swept over her figure. "Hi, Al!" she said shyly.

_Aw... she's so cute!_

I noticed Ed grinning at me out of the corner of my eye and immediately righted myself. "Hello, Lily," I returned the greeting, more formally than I wanted to. I blushed when I heard Ed stifle a laugh. "What are you doing here? I thought I was going to pick you up." I asked ignoring my brother's smirks. "You look very pretty, by the way." I blushed.

"Thank you," she said blushing as well. "Actually, I came to help Winry."

"With what?" Ed asked.

"Oh, just girls' stuff!" Lily giggled.

"She's in her room," I said, pointing up the stairs.

"Thanks Al," she said and left, leaving me in the mercy of my brother. I shrunk back as a sneaky grin appeared on his face.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

**Edward POV:**

Waiting on the girls was getting to be boring. It'd been an hour since Lily had gone up to Winry's room. I really didn't get why it took them so long to get ready. I mean all you had to do was put on your outfit and brush your hair. I yawned loudly and stretched. I hate sitting in one place for too long. It gets me all fidgety!

"I'm bored, Al!" I yawned again. "What's taking them so long?"

Al shrugged. "I don't know, Brother…"

I sighed and laid my head against the back of the sofa. I was just about to get up to get myself a book to read while I waited when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I looked up and paused. Winry looked absolutely lovely. She had her hair let loose and wore a soft peach colored cotton dress that reached her knees. I didn't notice I had been staring at her until Al nudged me in the ribs. I felt my face warm. "You… uh… look nice, Winry!" I said quickly and looked away to hide my flushed cheeks.

She smiled charmingly at me while blushing too. "Thank you, Ed."

The room filled with silence again until Al spoke. "We should get going," he said, nudging me again to get me out of my trance.

"Right!" I muttered.

"We're leaving now, Granny!" said Winry turning to Pinako, who I didn't even notice standing there.

"Sure. Have fun, you lot." Then turning to me she said, "You better take care of my granddaughter, pipsqueak. Understand?"

I was in too good a mood to really argue back at her. "Yeah, yeah. You can count on me, Granny." I said, flashing a wide grin.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Oh wow!" squealed Lily with her hands clasped together under her chin excitedly. "It looks so great!"

The four stood at the entrance of the festival grounds marveling their work. It was bursting of activity and music. "It really does look great!" said Al watching a small child run past him happily while his friends followed giggling in delight.

"We did a good job, don't you think?" sighed Winry merrily.

"I'd say we did an awesome job!" Ed spun around towards the speaker and found Jomy, his arm around a cute, petite redhead with bright green eyes. "'Sup Ed?" he grinned.

"Hey Jomy," Ed grinned back. "Blue this time, huh?" He motioned toward the boy's hair, which had been dyed cobalt blue this time.

"Hehe, yeah!" laughed Jomy. "Hey, you remember Emily, don't you?" He tightened his arm around the girl next to him, making her squeak.

"Yeah," Ed smiled. "Hi."

"Hello, Edward." She said smiling. "Where's your brother?"

"Right here," said Ed poking Al in the back, who was still admiring the festival entrance along with Lily and Winry.

"Millie!" squealed Lily and Winry together and tackled the girl into a big hug.

"Hey you two!" giggled Emily hugging the girls back. She turned to Al once she'd let go of Winry and Lily and greeted him as well, which he returned with a smile.

"Well, what are we all doing standing around the entrance? Let's go in and have fun!" Jomy cheered pumping a fist into the air.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

Winry held on to Ed's arm tightly as they wandered through the crowds. Her ankle was still a little tender and she didn't want to inconvenience Ed by crashing into anyone and hurting herself again. After all, it wasn't every day that he got to enjoy a festival.

"Where do you want to go first, Win?" Ed asked pulling his arm out of her grasp and slipping it around her waist to keep from losing her in the crowd.

"I don't know. You can choose," Winry said, blushing softly as she felt the fingers of Ed's left hand brush her waist through her cotton dress.

Edward said nothing for a moment, blush touched his cheeks. He just held her, silently enjoying the feel of having his arm around her. "It doesn't really matter, so you pick."

"Aw c'mon, Ed!" Winry said. "'I've been to the festival plenty of times! You should pick." She laughed. "There must be some ride that you'd like to go on that you weren't able to when you were a kid!"

"Hmm… you're right!" Ed agreed with a grin. "Let's go on the rollercoaster. That's the one ride I've always wanted to go on as a kid but wasn't able to because we were too sm-, I mean young."

"Then let's go!" Winry said, a small giggle escaping her lips.

Unknown to them, a brown haired boy watched them from afar, his gaze lingering on Ed's hand on Winry waist.

"How strange," Edward commented once they reached the rollercoaster. "It looks smaller than when I was a kid." Winry laughed.

"You dope!" she giggled. "We were nine then. Come on; let's get into line before it gets any longer!"

"My legs are going to fall off!" Winry groaned after fifteen minutes in line, and clung onto Ed for support. "And I have an injured foot!"

"Your fault for falling off the ladder!" Ed teased chuckling, still keeping his arm around her waist.

"Hey, that's not fair! It's not like it was me who made that rung snap."

"It must have given way to your weight!"

"What? Are you calling me fat?!"

"As a matter of fact…" A cheeky grin made its way onto his lips.

WHAM!

"Ouch! Are you trying to kill me, woman?!" Edward grumbled rubbing his bruised head. "Hey! Where the hell did the wrench come from? There can't be any place for you to hide it under that dress!" he said looking her up and down.

Winry didn't answer, instead turned away with a huff.

"Hey Brother, Winry!" A voice chirped. "Bickering again?"

"Al!" Ed exclaimed when he found his brother behind them. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?"

"How'd you two get up here from the long line behind us?" Winry asked. "I could've sworn you weren't here before!"

"We jumped when we saw you. Mind if we cut ahead?" said Lily with a smile

"Of course not," Winry answered, moving back to make room for Al and Lily in front of them, while Edward continued to stare at Al skeptically, but his brother kept his gaze averted from him.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

The couple walked together excitedly through the bustling crowd, their fingers entwined. Al blushed as he felt Lily's tiny hand in his own, and squeezed it lightly.

"So… where to first, Lily?" Al asked, holding the brunette close to his side.

"Um… anywhere you want, Al!" she said smiling up at him.

Al shrugged. "I'm not sure. Why don't you choose?"

"Oh, okay then… how about the rollercoaster?" Lily asked.

"R-rollercoaster?" Al shivered.

"Yeah… is something the matter?" She looked curiously at the boy next to him.

"N-no, not at all!" Al exclaimed quickly. "The rollercoaster it is!" He hurriedly pulled Lily along to avoid any question on his reaction to her suggestion. The truth was Alphonse was deathly afraid of the rollercoaster. He always had been, ever since he was young. His older brother had always been the more adventurous one out of the two. Ed had immediately been attracted to the ride when they had first seen it, while Al had found it rather frightening. But they had been too small to go on back then. Al could still remember Ed's outburst when the person manning the rollercoaster said that they were too short to go on the ride. The attraction still unnerved him to this day and Al decided that he would more willingly take on a Homunculus than a ride on the rollercoaster. But now he had no option but to go along with Lily since he'd given her the choice.

He noticed that they'd reached the site pretty quickly and looked up to see the large structure looming over them. He swallowed at the lump that had formed in his throat and gripped Lily's hand tighter. "It looks bigger than the last time I saw it!"

Lily giggled. "Hey, there's Ed and Winry." Al followed her line of sight to see his brother and Winry with Ed's arm protectively around the girl's waist. He grinned. "Let's catch up to them, shall we?"

Al looked back at Lilly and shrugged. "Sure, why not!"

So the pair politely excused themselves and pushed forward until they were standing right behind Ed and Winry. The two were quarrelling again. Al sighed.

"Are you calling me fat?!" Winry demanded.

"As a matter of fact…" Ed smirked cheekily. Too bad for him, though. Down came the trusty wrench, connecting Ed's cranium with a sickening crunch that made Al wince, so sure his brother's skull had cracked. "Ouch! Are you trying to kill me, woman?!" Ed groused angrily while rubbing his bruise. "Hey! Where the hell did the wrench come from? There can't be any place for you to hide it under that dress!"

Winry said nothing, but turned away huffing indignantly.

Al chose this moment to speak. "Hey Brother, Winry! Bickering again?"

"Al!" Ed exclaimed, just noticing his little brother standing behind them. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" Ed raised an eyebrow at Al.

"How'd you two get up here from the long line behind us?" Winry asked. "I could've sworn you weren't here before!"

Lily simply giggled and said, "We jumped when we saw you. Mind if we cut ahead?"

"Of course not," Winry answered as she stepped aside to let the couple move in front of Ed and her.

Al noticed Ed watching him from the corner of his eyes and purposefully kept his gaze averted. Then Ed grabbed a hold of his little brother's elbow and whispered into his ear, "I thought you were afraid of the rollercoaster, _Alphonse_?"

Al blushed before whispering timidly, "Well, Lily said she wanted to go on this ride…"

A smirk crawled its way onto Ed's lips making Al's blush deepen. "Ah… so you couldn't bear to disappoint your beloved _girlfriend_, eh?" he teased, chuckling.

Al hit his brother's shoulder and winced when his hand collided with metal instead of flesh. "Stop it, Brother! She's not my girlfriend!" he murmured, alarmed Ed's words.

Ed released Al's elbow and moved back, his smirk only growing. "Sure, Alphonse. Whatever you say…"

* * *

**So so so sorry for such a late update. I'm having exams and I don't have time to write. Forgive me?**

**Well, this is part one of the Resembool Annual Festival.**

**I hope it was good enough. Forgive me if there are any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes. I uploaded this in a hurry, so the editing was rushed.**

**Just a note to my readers; I will only be updating again AFTER the 20****th**** of November. I've got exams until then. :(**

**Review, perhaps?**

**Constructive criticism is welcome.**

**Love and hugs! **

**-HoPeLeSsRoMaNtIc-**


	7. Resembool Annual Festival Part Two

Chapter Seven

**Resembool Annual Festival – Part Two**

* * *

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaa…" Alphonse ran screaming down the steps and immediately hugged the ground. "Oh ground… sweet, sweet ground…" he muttered, resting his cheek on the floor.

**Flashback:**

"_It's our turn to go on, Al" said Lily shaking the boy out of his reverie. Al looked up and saw that people were stepping out of the rollercoaster carts. He gulped when Lily tugged on his arm to get into the ride. "Oooh… I'm so excited!" She giggled._

"_Yeah… m-me too…" muttered the shaking boy. He gingerly stepped into the first cart and sat down next to the brunette and quickly pulled down the safety bar._

"_Good luck, Al!" Edward whispered, ruffling Al's hair and grinning, before stepping into the cart behind the one younger Elric was seated in. Alphonse swallowed again and gripped the handrail tighter, his knuckles turning white._

"_Are you alright, Al?" a soft voice broke through his mind and he nodded vigorously. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lily's eyebrows furrow. "Are you sure?"_

"_Y-yeah! I'm great," he said. It was a wonder she didn't hear the fear in his voice. Al could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage, so hard that he thought it would burst out of his chest any second._

"_If you say so," Lily said, not fully believing him. Then the bell dinged and the cart lurched as it started to move forward._

_Al whimpered before firmly closing his eyes._

_For the next few minutes all he could feel was the feel of the wind blowing over his face. But when he dared to open his eyes, he couldn't shut them again, and it wasn't because he was finally enjoying the ride. Oh no, Al was terrified. It was just that with his eyes closed he kept feeling like as though they were going to run off the tracks. When the cart turned downhill, he felt his stomach jump to his throat, and he groaned when he felt the contents of his stomach churn as they moved quickly through the loops. Al hadn't realized it, but he was screaming throughout the whole ride though as if pleading for his life, just waiting for it all to end. He'd be glad to trade this ride for another fight with the Homunculus Envy, if only it would stop._

_When the ride finally came to a halt and the safety bar was finally lifted, Al was the first one to jump out of the cart and zoom down the steps screaming…_

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

Al sighed as he tried to calm his racing heart. This had definitely been one of the scariest times of his life. His cheek was still rested against the cool earth when he heard a surprised voice from above him and Al opened his eye a sliver and looked to see who it was.

"Alphonse?" Jomy called from above him, with a confused, but at the same time amused, look on his face. "Wow! I knew I was amazing, but I didn't think that anybody actually worshipped me! Especially not by the Fullmetal Alchemist's little brother!" he grinned jokingly at the boy at his feet. He ran his fingers through the cobalt blue layers of his hair and bent down to look at Al. "You okay, Al?" he asked as Edward, Winry and Lily caught up to Al.

"Al? Are you alright?" Lily asked concernedly from behind Al, who immediately sprang back onto his feet, embarrassment reddening his cheeks.

"Who, me?" Al asked sheepishly. "Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?" He gave an awkward chuckle, as he tried to reassure the brunette. Jomy blinked confusedly, while Edward grinned. "I… uh… need to use the bathroom!" He dashed, and just like that Al was gone, leaving behind him only a cloud of dust.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Al, why didn't you tell me you were afraid of the rollercoaster?" Lily asked, taking a seat next to the blonde on the bench.

"Eh?" Al blinked at the girl. "H-How do you, uh… I mean, what made you think that?"

"Edward told me," she answered simply. She watched him with a soft gaze and Al let out a breath.

"I… uh… didn't want you to miss out just because I was afraid of a silly ride…" Alphonse muttered, staring at his feet.

Lily laughed. "Silly boy!" she said, touching a hand to his cheek. "I've been on this ride so many times. There wasn't anything I was going to miss out by not going on it… This is the first time you've been to the fair since years. I want you to enjoy it, okay?" She smiled at him and kissed his cheek, a blush painting its way onto her cheeks.

Al blushed as well and nodded. "So… what do you want to do next?"

"No, Al. This time you're going to choose. And please, choose something _you_ want to do."

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Wow, I can't believe that Al's still afraid of the rollercoaster after all this time," Winry said, her expression one of disbelief.

Ed laughed. "Yeah, but that's Al for you. I guess it's just one of his quirks," he said, taking her hand and leading her towards one of the many food stalls. "I'm starved. Let's get something to eat."

"Edward," Winry sighed. "It's only ten o'clock and you just had breakfast!"

"Yeah, so?" Ed asked, ordering himself two hotdogs. "I'm hungry," he shrugged. "You want anything?"

"No, thank you," Winry refused, shaking her head as her date took a large bite out of his food. "I guess this is one of your own quirks."

Ed smirked and held out his half-eaten hotdog to the blonde girl. "Sure you don't want one?" he asked again through his mouthful.

"Ew, Ed, how many times do I have to tell you not to talk with your mouth full?!" Edward just swallowed and grinned before biting into his second hotdog.

"Hey Winry!" called a tall brown haired boy coming over to the pair and wrapping an arm around the blonde girl's shoulders. Edward growled lowly, immediately switching to protective mode, though Winry didn't seem to be having a problem with the boy. Instead she just turned into the embrace and hugged him back. _What the-?_

"Hi Terence," Winry greeted after pulling back. "You're finally back! How was the trip to Lior?"

Terence grinned toothily. "Boring as hell! It's good to be back," then as if he had just noticed Ed, "Hey Edward, you're back in Resembool too?"

"Yeah… who the hell are you?" Edward demanded.

Terence simply chuckled. "Ed, this is Terence. He's a friend of Andrew's, remember?" Winry said to the blonde teen next to her.

"Of course. How could I forget," Ed muttered sarcastically.

"It's good to see you again too, shrimp."

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HE WOULD BE MISTAKEN FOR A TODDLER AND WON'T BE ALLOWED TO RIDE ON THE FERRIS WHEEL WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION, YOU JERK?!?!" Ed exploded furiously and Winry had to sigh in exasperation.

"_Edward Elric_, if you don't calm down right now I'll whack you so hard that you'll _fly_ to Xing!" Winry said brandishing her wrench at the poor boy who shut up immediately and backed away from the girl, in fear for his health.

"Haha, you're the same as always Ed!" Terence chuckled, before turning his head to call over his shoulder. "Hey Keith, guess who I ran into over here!"

A tall, muscular, dark haired boy ambled over at the call of his name and looked down at Edward, who immediately felt a strong resentment towards the teen when he realized he had to look up to look at the boy's face as it towered above his own.

"Edward?" the boy asked.

"Yo," Ed grumbled while Winry offered a cheerful 'hello'. To Edward's surprise and annoyance, Keith bent down to place a chaste kiss on the girl's cheek. Winry's blush and answering smile only fueled Ed's irritation. "Come on, Win, let's go," Ed grabbed her wrist and made to drag her away when a familiar voice halted her.

"Hey, baby," Andrew said coming up to his girlfriend and pulling her in to kiss her lips softly. Winry responded by pulling her hand out of Edward's grasp and wrapping her arms around her boyfriend's neck. Ed's heart sank at the sight of the two. He fisted his gloved hands tightly and turned away from the couple.

"Hey, Ed?"

Edward turned to look back at Andrew at the sound of his name. "Yes?" he asked, more rudely than was necessary.

"Mind if I borrow Winry for a ride on the Ferris wheel?" he asked with a smile.

Ed glanced at Winry before lowering his eyes to Andrew's hand which was wrapped around her waist. "Uh, sure," he said, stuffing his balled fists into his pockets and looking away again. "That is, if Winry wants to go."

"Thanks, Ed!" Winry chirped, giving Ed a small hug before taking her boyfriend's hand and allowing him to lead her towards the ride while Ed looked on with a heavy heart.

"Hey Keith, let's go see who can score more points at the paint ball stall!" Terence said cheerily. "You can come too if you like, Ed," he said turning to the shortest of the three.

"Uh, yeah, sure…" Ed answered without much enthusiasm, and shuffled behind them slowly as they walked.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

Winry sighed contentedly as she rested her head against her boyfriend's chest as they rode in a Ferris wheel compartment alone.

"Having fun?" Andrew asked, kissing her hair.

"Yes," she replied softly, nuzzling her head in his neck. She felt his body shake under her as he chuckled.

"I meant are you having fun with Edward?"

"I guess," she mumbled. "I rarely get to see him because he hardly ever comes to Resembool, so when they, Al and him, do show up, every minute with them is wonderful!"

"Gee... you sure speak highly of him," Andrew said, while stroking her hair.

"He is my best friend, Drew. They both are," she said raising her head when Andrew lowered his hand from her head. "Wait… you're not jealous, are you?" she asked, arching an elegant eyebrow at him skeptically.

"Of course not!" he said, before pulling her onto his lap and taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger and turning her head to kiss her fervently on the lips. Winry in turn adjusted her position on his lap so she could comfortably coil her arms around his neck, pressing her body against the warmth of his, and reply to the kiss with an equal passion.

It was only when they reached the top of the Ferris wheel did they break apart so that they could enjoy the scenery.

"Wow! Everything looks so beautiful from up here!" Winry gasped, leaning over Andrew's shoulder to look at the world below.

"Yes it is, but nothing compared to you," Andrew whispered softly in her ear. The blonde gasped and blushed as his breath tickled her ear. She leaned back to look at him. "I sound corny, don't I?" he smiled.

"No," she said softly as a blush heated her face. "You sounds wonderful," she said before pressing her lips to his again. She felt his breath enter her mouth as his lips forced hers apart and the thick muscle in his mouth entered hers to play with her tongue as it explored her mouth. She grabbed tufts of his hair in her small fists and pulled him against her. His arms were wrapped around her so tightly that she could barely breathe. Their mouths only separated for the shortest moments so that they could surface to take in breaths. Even when Andrew finally left her mouth, his lips wouldn't leave her skin as it trailed along her neck from her jaw to her shoulder and back again, while darting his tongue out to taste her skin at regular intervals along that path. The intimacy eventually dimmed when his lips came to a stop against the side of her head and Winry returned her head back to its position against his chest. He planted a soft kiss on her hair before resting his chin on her crown.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

**Edward POV:**

_Load… Aim… Fire!_

I kept repeating the steps as I fired the paint balls at the targets lined out in front of me. On my left, Keith was reloading his gun, and on my right Terence was just watching my performance.

"Wow, Ed!" he exclaimed. "You didn't miss the targets even once! I guess being in the military does teach you a thing or two!"

"_Actually, I just imagine the targets to be Andrew, so it isn't hard to be accurate!"_ was what I wanted to say, but instead I just shrugged and went back to firing.

In the end, I was the one who scored the most out of us three, being the only one who didn't miss a single target. Terence kept praising me, and even Keith, to my surprise, showed his admiration towards me as well. We were just leaving the stall after collecting our prizes when we ran into Jomy and his twin Joanie.

"Hey Ed, Terence, Keith!" Jomy greeted us cheerfully. To which we all returned the greeting with equal enthusiasm, for it was hard to be down with his always lively personality.

"What are you doing here?" Terence asked them.

"Bubbles here challenged me!" Joanie answered, putting an arm around her brother.

"Bubbles?" I asked with a smirk.

"Joanie!!" Jomy cried warningly.

His sister ignored him. "Yup, don't you remember our old nickname for him, Ed?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, 'Little Bubbles'" I chuckled at the memory of when we started calling him that because of his bubbly personality. It wasn't long before everyone caught on since it was so suiting for him and so the nickname stuck.

Jomy stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "Hey, I'm not little anymore!" he said.

"Of course you are!" Joanie said teasingly pinching his cheeks. "You'll always be our Bubbles!" Everyone immediately agreed, to which Jomy blushed embarrassedly.

I was just beginning to enjoy myself hanging around with the twins when the moment was interrupted by the return of the couple.

"Hey, everyone!" Andrew greeted. "You all look like you're having fun!" he said cheerily.

"Yeah, we _were_ having fun," I scowled. _Before you showed up! _I added mentally. I caught Jomy's eye when he gave me a surprised look because of the tone of my voice and turned to Winry instead, who was still within Andrew's embrace.

"Thanks for letting me take Winry on the ride, Ed." Andrew told me as I turned to look at him. "We had fun."

"I'm glad to hear that," I muttered sardonically.

The twins excused themselves to leave towards the paint ball stall, leaving the rest of us with a very awkward atmosphere hanging around.

"So, um… where do you want to go next, Ed?" Winry asked, as an attempt to break the ice.

I just shrugged and said, "Wherever you want to go…"

"Why don't we go grab a bite to eat?" Terence offered.

"Yeah, I'm starved," said Winry nodding.

"Great, then let's go," said Andrew. "You coming, Ed?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," I muttered. _What the deal with this guy? He's acting like Winry is his date and not mine! Bastard!_

As it turned out I found myself walking ahead with Terence and Keith while the couple trailed a few steps behind us, Andrew's arm still around Winry's waist. _Some date! I just got ditched… _I thought to myself, frowning.

"Gee, Ed, you're being awfully silent. Something bothering you?" Terence's voice broke through my thoughts.

"Nah, I'm fine," I said, even though I was anything but.

Terence didn't look convinced, but didn't voice it. "Alright, then," he said as we neared the food stalls, "What are we having?" He looked at Keith for an answer, but the boy just shrugged. "Well, I'm going for Jill's homemade pizzas. Yum!" He rubbed his belly in anticipation.

"Me too," agreed Andrew. "Lily's sister really makes them well! What about you, baby?"

"I'll have the same," Winry said smiling up at him and Andrew leaned down to drop a kiss on her mouth, lingering there for a moment before moving to the left and nuzzling her ear making Winry giggle. "Drew," she squealed when his lips moved to her neck. I felt like gagging at the very sight of it, so I was very glad when she pulled away from him and turned to me. "What are you going to have, Ed?"

"Uh… nothing," I said, looking away from her and towards the crowds of people sitting at tables and eating. It was lunch time after all. "I'm not very hungry."

Winry's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You're sure, Ed? You haven't tasted Jillian's food, have you? I'm sure you'll love it," she said with a smile.

"I'm sure, Win," I said turning back to her. "You guys go ahead. I'll take a walk around instead." I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile before walking away from the group.

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**Okay, I have no excuse for not updating sooner, except that I was down with serious case of writer's block and a very bad cold. I'm still not better, though. I had a lot of help from my sister for this chapter, so many thanks to her! **

**Also, thanks to those who reviewed, favourited and put this fic on alert. Hugs and kisses to all of you.**

**This chapter is unedited, so please forgive me for any grammatical errors. Let me know if there are any mistakes. I'm sure there are plenty.**

**I hope you all enjoyed it. Review, please?**

**Love,**

**-HoPeLeSsRoMaNtIc-**


	8. Fight and Forgive

**A/N: Hey guys! Well, here it is; the long awaited chapter of Love and Truth. I'm really, _really_ sorry for the delay, but I was kind of putting it off for a long time because I was lazy. Gomenasai!! I hope you won't be too angry with me.**

**Well, a little bit of news about me: my birthday was on Thursday and I just turned twenty. I'm no longer a teen!!!! :'(**

**:P**

**Anyway, I just wanted to dedicate this chapter to my friends: Mincheese, Sanee, Nav and Sharky for loving this fic as much as they do. Thanks, guys. Love ya!**

**I also dedicate this to my sister, Tsuki, as well as ****PinkPsych00**** and ****AnimeCookie93**** for their ideas for this chapter (Thanks for your ideas guys, and I hope you won't be too mad because I couldn't use all of them in the chapter).**

**And last but not least, dedicated also to every single one of you who have read, favourited and put this fic on alert.**

**Think of it as my birthday treat for you guys!! xD**

**The fic is un-beta'd, so let me know if you spot any typos I might have missed. Thanks.**

**Well then, enjoy! ;)**

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**Chapter Eight**

**Fight and Forgive**

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**Edward POV:**

I sat on a bench nibbling on my corndog when I heard a distinctive voice call my name. "Ed!" I looked up to see Winry jogging towards me. "Hey!" she greeted, as she came closer. "What happened to you? And why'd you ditch me like that?" She turned around and huffed. "Some date!"

My eyebrow shot up at that. "_Me_ ditch _you_? I think it's the other way around, don't you think?" I asked her, wiping my mouth with a paper napkin.

She turned around surprised. "Huh?"

"Oh come on, Winry," I said. "Who was the one who ran off when their boyfriend… ugh… never mind!" I stood up and moved away from her and towards the very tree I had napped under when I had dreamt of Winry in a hula skirt and coconut bra. I blushed as I remembered it. I flopped ungracefully under the tree and stared out at the lake. I could see Al and Lily on one of the paddle boats there. Al was saying something and Lily was laughing. At least one of us was having fun. I smiled.

"Ed, Andrew only asked if I could go on one ride with him. And you gave your 'okay' for it. Why did you say okay if you didn't want me to go?" Winry asked sitting down next to me.

_What the hell? _"Listen, Winry, the guy is your boyfriend. I couldn't say no even if I wanted to!" This conversation was getting annoying.

"I don't get what you're fussing about!" Winry exclaimed, her voice rising. "All I did was go on _one _ride with him!"

I didn't like where this was going. "Sure, Win! That's all you did!" I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice.

She stood up angrily and glared at me. "Edward! Stop acting like an idiot! It's not your business what I do with him! You are not my boyfriend!"

Her words were like a knife through my heart. "No," I growled, angry and hurt. "But I am your friend and that makes it every bit my business what you do with him! And I don't want you to see him! I don't trust the fucking bastard!"

Her hand flew up so fast and connected with my cheek before I could even register what happened. I felt a sharp stinging pain on the left side of my face as I turned my gaze to glare at her. "Don't you dare talk about him like that!" she cried, angry tears spilling out of her eyes. "You haven't been here in a long time! You can't just suddenly come back and expect me to listen to you!"

"Hey guys!" The voice was cheerful and I looked to the right to see Al walking our way with Lily. "What's going on?" His question assured me that he hadn't seen Winry slap me. I pressed my cool automail hand to my stinging cheek and looked back at Winry. She just shot me a betrayed look, which made me feel even guiltier than I already did, and ran off with tears streaming down her face.

"Fuck!" I cursed and punched the tree trunk with my metal fist causing it to crack under the force.

"Brother? Are you alright?" Al's voice was laced with concern. Lily was standing behind him and I could see the worry in her violet coloured eyes as well.

"It's nothing, Al," I mumbled, not wanting to get them all worked up and ruin their fun. "I'm fine." I turned and walked away from the pair, in the opposite direction from Winry, knowing that if I stayed a minute longer Al would probably figure out that we had been fighting.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Well that was fun!" Al exclaimed grinning at Lily. The couple had just finished their ride on the paddle boats and was walking around the fair looking for other things to do.

"Yes it was," Lily said, slipping her hand through his and resting her head against his upper arm.

Al blushed as he felt her small hand entwined with his and her body leaning against his own. "Are you tired?" he asked.

"Maybe just a little," she admitted softly. "Let's not go on any more rides for a while."

"How about we just take a stroll then?"

"That sounds nice," she said, and together they walked towards a grassier area near the fair.

"I wonder how Brother is doing." Al wondered out loud when they neared the edge of the fair.

"Isn't that him with Winry?" Lily asked pointing ahead of them.

Al followed her finger to see Winry and Ed standing under a tree glaring at each other. _Oh no! _Al picked up his pace pulling Lily along with him to get to the pair. "Hey guys? What's going on?" he asked, trying to keep the tone of his voice cheerful, as a small attempt to calm them down, but with no avail. Winry just turned and stalked way without looking at them and Al could've sworn that he saw tears trailing down her cheeks as she went.

The younger Elric watched in surprise as his brother cursed loudly and punched the tree hard enough to leave dents. "Brother? Are you alright?"

Ed just mumbled an incoherent answer and walked away from him. Al made to follow, but Lily grabbed his hand, stopping him. "You go after Winry, I'll look after Edward." She said. Al nodded and after one more glance at his retreating brother, he followed Winry.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Ed!" Lily called out, following the retreating figure. He didn't stop, so she tried again, "Ed, hold up!" Still no signs of him acknowledging her plea, so she picked up her speed, running to catch up to him. She hadn't gotten three steps when her foot caught on a stone. She shrieked in surprise and the next thing she knew was the ground rushing up rapidly to meet her. She collided hard with the ground with a dull thud, only barely managing to break her fall with her right hand before her face hit the floor. "Ow!"

Edward, hearing the poor girl's cry, turned around to find her sprawled on the cold, hard ground. He sighed and went up to help her. "You okay?" he asked, gently helping her up into a sitting position. Lily winced in reply. "Where are you hurt?"

"My wrist is a bit sprained and I think I might have scraped my knee," she told him. Ed nodded and took her hand in his right and prodded gently.

"It doesn't look broken," he muttered. "And your knee?"

Lily showed him her left injured knee. There was a small scrape and a thin trickle of blood oozing out of it. Ed winced. The girl looked a mess; her sea-foam green dress was ripped at the ends and she was covered in mud. This was his entire fault. "I'm sorry," he said looking away from her. "It's all my fault! I should have just stopped when you asked me to…"

Lily giggled, which caused Ed to look up at her in surprise. "It isn't," she told him. "The fall is just me. I've always been this clumsy! So don't blame yourself." She smiled at him. "Anyway, I need to get this cleaned up," she continued gesturing at her injured knee. "Wouldn't want something small to turn into something nasty due to infection, you know!" Ed nodded. "I've got a first-aid kit back at home. Could you help me up?"

"Sure," Ed stood up and eased her on to her feet, and after making sure she could stand, he turned his back to her and bent a little, looking over his shoulder and holding his arms out behind him. "Come on, I'll carry you there," he offered.

"What? No, that's alright, Ed-" she began to protest.

"I want to. Besides, it is my fault you fell, no matter how many times you say it isn't so it's the least I can do." Ed said, watching her with his intense golden gaze.

"Um, alright," she said, climbing on to the blonde's back and wrapping her arms around his neck. "But, really Ed, the fall wasn't your fault. I'm just naturally a klutz!"

"Yeah, yeah!" he grinned before beginning to walk towards the brunette's house.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

The younger Elric sped after his friend calling out her name. "Winry!" he panted. "Winry, wait up!"

The girl showed no signs of stopping, so Al grabbed her arm the moment she was within reach and spun her around to face him, while Winry tried to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand before he saw them.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently, taking her face in his hands and tilting her head upwards to look at her face while swiping his thumbs across her cheeks to wipe away her tears.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She muttered unconvincingly with a loud sniff.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked but she shook her head. "Do you need a hug?" he asked again. This time she nodded so he opened out his arms to welcome her into his warm embrace.

It had only been a short moment before they were interrupted by the person they both least wanted to see at that instant.

"Hey Win, Al!" Andrew smiled walking towards them. "Are you okay?" he asked, noticing that something was wrong.

"We're just fine," Winry spoke up first, trying to sound convincing but failing as her voice cracked up towards the end.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he asked, walking up to his girlfriend and taking her into his arms from Al. "Tell me."

"I'm fine, really," she murmured into his chest.

Kissing the top of her head, he then looked up at Alphonse. "Do you mind if I take her with me?" he asked.

Al hesitated, not wanting to allow it. "Uh… sure." He sighed in defeat. Drew was her boyfriend after all, he couldn't really say no. So with that being said he watched the couple walking away, not sure of what to do now. _Oh, Brother! What did you this time?_

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Thank you for looking after me, Ed," Lily smiled at the blonde boy as they walked back to the fair from Lily's house.

"No problem," Edward muttered with his eyes trained on the floor.

"Are you still thinking about Winry?" she asked and got no reply. "You know, I can't say I know what you're feeling, but I guess it must be hard for you to love someone and watch that person being courted by somebody else."

"Wha-!" Ed stammered, a blush forming on his cheeks. "But I don't-!"

Lily silenced him with a look. "I may not have known you for as long as Al or Winry, but I can see the truth in your eyes."

"Uhh…" Ed began, but before he could form a sentence Jomy interrupted him the moment they arrived at the fair again.

"Ed!" he cried, bending over and putting his hands on his knees while gasping for breath after his running. "Hurry up and go the Ferris wheel! Al's there!" he gasped.

"Jomy, what's going on?" Edward asked, shaking the boy by his shoulders.

"Th-the Ferris wheel broke! Al's trying to fix it, but there are people still inside!" the panicked boy gasped out in between breaths. "Winry and Andrew are in there too!"

In the back of his mind Ed felt his distaste for Andrew arise again, but his worry for Winry's safety overcame that feeling. "I'm going to go help Al!" he said turning to leave. "The two of you better stay here to avoid getting hurt!" he added and sprinted away before they could say anything.

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**Aaaaand that's it for now!!!! Yayy for cliffhangers!!**

**Gasp! What surprises and events await our beloved ****little**** State Alchemist and his friends?! **

**Find out in the next chapter! Bwahahahahahahahaha… :P**

**Nahh, I'm just playing with you! *cheeky grin***

**It would have been a killer to wait for the next bit, wouldn't it?**

**On with the story…**

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Ed was panicked with worry when he reached the site where the Ferris wheel was located and his worry only deepened when he saw the mess. It seemed like as though the metal bars supporting the wheel had given way and broken, and the large wheel had fallen out of its hold. Now the only thing supporting them were huge earth pillars holding the structure from the sides. All around him people were shouting, some out of worry, while others were barking out orders to help. He almost couldn't find him, but then he spotted the mop of golden hair from below one of the pillars.

"Al!" Ed shouted, running towards his brother, stumbling a little.

He didn't even reach him when Al looked up and called back. "Brother! Help me get everyone out!" he cried.

"Don't worry!" Ed reassured him. "I'll take care of getting them out while you get ready to receive them!" Al nodded and transmuted a few more pillars of earth to hold up the large teetering structure while Ed began to pull himself up the metal bars of the structure with the skill that could be compared to a monkey's.

"Be careful!" Ed heard his brother call after him as he swung in between the bars.

"Heh! This is just like a child's jungle gym!" he muttered to himself as he reached the first compartment. He waved to his brother, and Al transmuted a large slide towards him before Ed broke open the door with his automail hand and assisted the first group down the slide to Al before moving on to the next.

After a few more compartments Ed felt the muscles in his arm and shoulders strain with exhaustion as he pulled himself higher and higher up the Ferris wheel. He gasped as he continued climbing from compartment to compartment helping the people slide safely down Alphonse's earth slides to the ground. It wasn't too long before he reached the highest and last compartment. Edward had never been afraid of heights, but this time he tried to avoid looking down fearing that if he did his exhaustion would cause his head to spin.

"Ed!" he heard a squeak from above him, and looked up to see Winry staring down at him, her face full of worry.

Even now her beauty knocked Edward breathless, and as he looked at her face with the wind whipping her hair around he felt a sense of relief overcome him. She was unhurt.

"Edward!" another voice came from behind Winry, and Ed's heart sank when he came up to see Andrew in the cabin. "We saw you climb all the way up here, are you alright?" he asked, sounding concerned.

Ed simply shrugged in response without actually answering him. "Come on; let's get you both out of here." He said, turning and waving at Al from inside the cabin, signaling for him to make a slide, which he did.

"Is it safe?" Andrew asked.

"Of course it is! You think my brother will make it anything less than flawless?!" Ed demanded, shaking a fist at him, flinching when his muscles cried out to him. "You go first and I'll come down with Winry." He advised. Andrew nodded in agreement, understanding that if anything was to go wrong, Winry would be safest with Ed looking after her.

"Meet you down there," he said to Winry, kissing her on the forehead before sliding down. Winry squeaked with worry as she watched her boyfriend going down, and sighed in relief when he reached the ground safely.

"Your turn," Ed said, holding Winry firmly around the waist and preparing to jump onto the slide which was a little away from the door.

They were just preparing to leap when there was a loud crunching sound and the Ferris wheel gave a sudden lurch forwards, throwing Edward and Winry out of the compartment. Ed only had enough time to grab the door with his left hand, preventing them from falling. Winry screamed and Edward tightened his grip on her as they dangled in the air. Below them, they could hear shouts and screams as well, but Ed ignored them as he tried to find a way to get Winry to safety. There was no chance of jumping onto the slide now, and Edward's left arm and shoulder muscles screamed in protest at all the weight it was supporting.

"Good, dependable Al!" Ed chucked hoarsely as a slide formed just under their feet. Still holding the girl in his arms, he let go of the door and dropped onto the slide. He sat the shaken Winry securely on his outstretched legs before sliding the both of them down to safety.

There was a chorus of cheers as they landed, but, now that Winry was safe, Ed was more concerned about his left arm which had gone numb. Winry had just got off his lap and he was about to stand up before he was tackled back onto the ground by his brother.

"Oh, Brother! I'm so… s-s-sorry!" he sobbed into his older brother's shirt. "One of m-my support b-beams g-gave way! B-because of me, y-you c-c-could have… W-Winry could h-have…" He gave a particularly loud sniff, unable to continue.

Ed stroked his brother's blonde head and smiled. "You did well, Al! I'm proud of you," he said soothingly. Al's arms only tightened around him while he cried, his tears soaking his brother's shirt. Ed noticed Lily pushing her way through the crowd towards them out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, come now, Al. Big boys don't cry, especially in front of _certain people_." He nudged his brother lightly to look at Lily, who was standing near them.

"Lily," Al began, standing up, but he couldn't so much as open his mouth to say another word before the small girl jumped into his arms, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the lips. The younger Elric staggered back under the girl's weight, gasping in surprise, but he overcame his shock quickly enough to wrap his arms around the girl's small figure and kiss her back with equal enthusiasm. Ed smiled at the couple's vibrancy, before standing up and moving away from them towards Winry, but it vanished when he saw her too enjoying a warm embrace with her lover.

Turning away with a sigh, he made to leave when he was hugged for the second time. This time, though, with not enough force to knock him backwards onto the ground; it was a strong and warm embrace.

"Oh, Edward! You're safe!" Jamie's soothing voice came out to him. "I was so worried for your safety!"

"Omph! Mlef mwee gwo! Wy cafns bfeet!" Ed spoke incoherent words into the man's shirt, pushing his hands against his abdomen trying to break free. Unfortunately for him, the albino seemed to miss read his request and hugged the poor boy tighter, while continuing to mutter soothing things to him.

It was just about a minute before Jaime let go of him and Ed heard Jomy saying, "Let go of him, Brother, you're going to be the death of him!" Ed gave a mental thanks to the boy as he gasped for breath.

"Oh wow, what a mess!" Jomy whistled outwards looking up at the damaged ride. "It's going to take a lot to clean it up. I wonder if they'll cancel the fair…"

"Uh-huh," Ed agreed, looking at the people crowded around the area, all prepared to pitch in and help in any way they could. He also spotted the man in charge of the Ferris wheel furiously apologizing to the Mayor, who had come to observe the damage. Ed had to smile. This was one very large difference between the people in Central and his family in Resembool – In Central, not everybody was willing to put aside their time to help another, unlike in his village where everyone was always willingly to help with their neighbors' problems.

"Alright! Let's get fixing!" Ed heard a man next to him saying while rolling up his sleeves and stepping forward.

"No, wait." Ed said, grabbing the man's arm to stop him as an idea popped into his mind. "Let me handle this!"

The young State Alchemist grinned as he stepped forward. Clapping his hands together, he placed them against the broken metal structure, which was followed by a blinding flash of blue light as the transmutation burst to life. There were gasps all around him as the light faded away to reveal the Ferris wheel completely fixed and looking better than ever!

"How's that?" Ed grinned at Jomy. "Don't underestimate me!"

"Yessir!" Jomy mock-saluted.

Everyone seemed to like the newly repaired ride, and they all wanted to have a go on it, not at all worried about what had happened before. People came to praise Edward and Alphonse too for their hard work. Ed was happy to help, but it climbing the Ferris wheel had put a strain on his left arm and muscles, and it had become very painful to move it.

"Hey, Brother!" Al came up to the older Elric while towing Lily next to him. "Nice work on the Ferris wheel! You sure are absorbing a lot of attention!" he teased.

"Heh, you too!" Ed grinned at his brother wiggling his eyebrows at him while nodding his head towards Lily. Al blushed. "Well I'm going home." Ed said, affectionately tousling Lily's hair. "I'm exhausted!"

"Alright, I'll come with-"

"No, Al. You stay here and have your fun," Edward said, patting the younger boy on the shoulder and turning away. "I'll see you at home!"

"Uh, sure," Al muttered watching his brother walk away from them and head towards the Rockbell house.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

Ed headed straight for the bathroom the moment he stepped into the house, soaked a washcloth with warm water and rubbed it over his aching left shoulder and arm. "Shit," he groused, gritting his teeth. He tried to move it a bit, but then thought against it when he felt a sharp stinging pain shoot from his shoulder to fingers.

"Ed, was that you?" Pinako's voice came from the hall.

"Yeah," Ed called back.

"Where are your brother and Winry?"

"Still at the fair. They might be a bit late, Granny," Ed rubbed at his arm again and winced loudly.

"Are you alright?" Pinako asked, and the boy knew that she had heard him wince.

"Uh, yeah… yeah, I'm fine," Ed said stepping out of the bathroom and flopping down on to the sofa. "How come you weren't at the fair?"

"Oh, these old bones can't handle the rush at the fair! That's all for you kids," Pinako said, sitting across from him and leafing through some automail blueprints.

"Don't be silly!" Ed laughed. "You may be old and tiny but you've still got it in you! After all you make some of the best Automail!"

"Heh! Who the hell do you think you're calling small?" She grinned with a gleam in her eye. "You pea-sized shrimp!"

"Wha-! Shut it you mini-hag!"

"Microscopic grain!"

"MICROSCOPIC hag!"

"You-! Uh…" Pinako hesitated, and chuckled. "Well, Ed, I'm running out of things to call you."

Ed laughed before letting his head fall back on to the backrest of the couch and closed his eyes… and before he knew it he had fallen asleep and was only awaken later that evening by the sound of pots and pans clanging in the kitchen where Al, Winry and Pinako were making dinner. He painfully dragged himself – painfully because his arm was still hurting – off his seat in the living room and into the kitchen.

"Oh hey, Brother!" Al greeted as Ed slumped into a chair groaning. "Did you have a nice sleep?" The blonde state alchemist simply muttered something unintelligible and leaned forward so that his chin was resting on the wooden kitchen table. "Are you hungry?" Ed nodded and Al immediately scooped macaroni and cheese onto a plate and placed it in front of his brother.

"Thanks," Ed mumbled before sitting up and, once everyone had joined him at the table, began to eat.

It was a silent dinner until Pinako spoke up. "Winry told me about what happened at the fair, Ed."

"Mm?" the blonde looked up from his plateful of food at the old lady.

"I haven't already thanked you for saving my granddaughter, so thank you."

"No, that's not necessary!" Ed stuttered in embarrassment, waving his hands around in front of him. "It was nothing! Al helped a lot too; I couldn't have done anything alone! "

"No, Brother! I almost hurt you and Winry! This was all you!" Al protested against sharing the compliments for saving Winry.

Pinako smiled at the two brothers before returning to her meal. She glimpsed a look at Winry's face whose face remained lowered throughout the whole dinner, hiding her face behind her bangs.

"So, Al, how was your little _moment _with Lily?" Ed teased, wiggling his eyebrows at his brother and Al's cheeks coloured almost instantly. "Did you enjoy it?"

"N-n-nothing happened," he automatically stammered in denial and Ed laughed.

"No point in lying Al," Ed said grinning openly at the seventeen year old. "I was there, I saw the whole thing!" The blush on Al's face spread down his neck and up to the tip of his ears at Ed's words. "Don't worry, Al," he continued, "I completely approve!" He winked for emphasis.

"What do you mean by 'you completely approve'?! I'm allowed to choose who I want to dat-" Al exclaimed before he stopped and started blabbering, "Uh, I m-mean, t-there's nothing b-between m-me and Lily!"

"Sure, Al, I believe you!" Ed said with a grin as he got up and placed his dishes in the sink. "I'm heading out for a bit," he informed them. "Don't wait up for me, okay?" Ed ruffled Al's hair affectionately as he passed him and made his way out of the house and into the night.

The air was cool and refreshing unlike the stuffy heat of the summer during the day. Edward inhaled deeply; the scent clean and fresh. He moved down the front porch steps and made his way towards the little hill that overlooked the river that he, Al and Winry had played in when they were little. Once he was there he plopped down on the grass and gazed out at the steadily flowing water. He remembered how he and Al, along with Winry, always used to go and play by the riverbank.

"The good old days when we had no worries about anything, like stupid love," Ed muttered, glaring at the swirling waters.

"Love isn't stupid," a soft voice came from behind him and Ed turned to find Winry looking down at him. "May I sit with you?" Edward nodded and she stepped forward to sit on his left.

The friends were silent for a moment and Winry was the first to break it. "Thank you, Ed... for saving my life."

The boy looked up in surprise at her. "No, it was nothing. I would have done it for anyone!" he said.

"I know you would have," She said with a soft smile on her face. "I also wanted to apologize, for hitting you." The girl looked seriously at him. "I'm really sorry!" she apologized before Ed could interrupt. "It was wrong for me to hit you and it was wrong for me to say that whatever I do is none of your business. You're my best friend, and you do have every right to be protective." She finished, with her eyes downcast.

"N-no." Ed muttered. "He's your boyfriend, and you've known him longer than I have. I shouldn't have spoken so bluntly about him."

The pair fell silent again, before Winry broke it again. "You know, we never really had much of a date." She stated and when Ed didn't reply, she continued, "I would like to go on another, if you want to as well."

"Another date?" Ed asked and the girl nodded. "Sure, I guess. If… you want…" He said shyly.

Winry slowly touched Ed's face before kissing his cheek, the same one she had hit. "Thank you," she whispered before getting up and walking back home and leaving the blonde State Alchemist sitting under the tree dumbfounded with his hand brushing the tingling the spot the girl's lips had touched.

* * *

**Wow! This is the longest chapter I've written so far. :P**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed reading as much I had fun writing. :)**

**I'll try my best to get started on the next chapter as soon as possible.**

**So, see you in chapter nine.**

**Love, Niki xoxo**


	9. Farewell

**Chapter 9**

**Farewell**

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* * *

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The day was beautiful. The sun was warm, but the soft breeze made sure that the weather would not get too hot. The young State Alchemist walked with his hands stuffed into his pockets, and his eyes in the sky as he followed the trail. Beside him was his best friend, in a pretty beige dress with her long blonde hair tied in a braid that trailed down her back. It looked like as though both Edward and Winry had switched their hairstyles for the day as Ed wore his in a loose ponytail at the nape of his neck. Both of them had their feet stuffed in wellingtons to avoid pools of mud on the ground that were a reminder of the previous night's rain.

"So where are we going?" Winry asked, turning her head to look at her friend.

"Huh?" Ed looked at her through the corner of his eye. "I thought you were leading!"

"Me? You're the one taking me on the date!"

"If I remember correctly, you were the one who asked me for a second date!" Ed grinned.

"Hmph! It was a mutual thing." Winry said, when she realized that he was right, and she flushed a light pink.

"How about we just enjoy this walk for now?" Ed said, taking his hands out of his pockets and knotting his fingers together at the back of his head.

Silence followed the pair, but it was not an uncomfortable silence that they shared between them. They walked until they were close to the outskirts of town before Ed spoke again.

"Did you tell him about our date?"

Winry didn't need to ask him who he was talking about to know. "Yes, of course I did. And no, he didn't mind." She said, answering the unasked question that hung between them. "I think he feels thankful towards you for saving us."

The couple walked straight into the town before Edward grabbed Winry by the hand and led her in to a small restaurant. He guided her to a table by the window before calling for a waiter to bring them menus.

"What would you like for drinks, sir?" the waiter inquired after he set the two menus down in front of the guests.

"Just water for me," Ed replied. "What about you, Winry?"

"The same, please," she said and the waiter nodded and went on his way.

"Why'd you bring me here?" Winry inquired looking around at the quaint little eatery.

"Well I'm hungry," Ed answered truthfully, his eyes sweeping over the open menu in his hands. "And what's a date without any food!" he peeped at her over the top of his menu to shoot her a quick grin and a wink before returning to his choosing. "Hurry up and pick something, Win!"

After a few moments the waiter returned with their drinks, and the couple gave in their orders. After he left, Ed leaned back in his chair and took to observing the passersby through the window. Winry on the other hand, focused her attention on Ed.

She noticed that he really had grown into a very handsome man. His long blonde hair shone in the light that picked out every individual strand of golden hair on his head. He also had beautiful golden eyes to match, that were filled with knowledge and wisdom beyond his years, framed by long dark lashes that would kiss his cheekbones every time he blinked. Edward had also been blessed with a gorgeous honey complexion.

At that moment, Winry realized something about Ed.

"You're so beautiful,"

"What?" Ed asked, taken by surprise.

"I just realized that you are really beautiful. Did you ever notice that about yourself?" she said, still in a daze as she observed him. "I'm so jealous!"

Ed felt his cheeks burn under her intense stare and her compliments and hurried to find something to say. "H-hey! Don't go around calling men 'beautiful'! It's insulting!" he stammered before turning away from her as their food arrived.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Hello! Is anybody home?" Lily called into the yellow house through the open window.

"Lily!" Al exclaimed in surprise, coming out of the kitchen garbed in a pink frilly apron. "Come on in, the door is open."

The brunette entered the house and walked up to her new boyfriend to give him a quick kiss. "Cute apron," she said, causing the young Elric to blush. "What are you doing?"

"Um, baking cupcakes." He said. "I just put the second batch into the oven, so do you want to help me decorate the first?"

"Sure," she smiled, following him into the kitchen and accepting the flower-print apron he offered her. "I didn't know you could cook!"

"Well, after living alone with Brother, I kind of had to learn. I mean, we couldn't live on store-bought food forever!" he explained.

The couple enjoyed decorating the cakes together using icing with the silliest designs they could come up with. Lily made most of them with flowers and animals, while Al drew on the simplest transmutation circles he could remember just to make them creative. While Lily was in the middle of decorating one cupcake, Al nudged her and pushed the cupcake he had just decorated towards her. The girl blushed when she saw the simple heart drawn on top of it with pink icing. She took the cupcake and added a decoration of her own to it. When she allowed him to see it, he turned an even deeper shade of pink than she had. Lily had inscribed 'A+L' inside the heart that Al had drawn, and she held out the little muffin for him to eat, which he did and then he fed her. Just as she took a bite, Al leaned forward and kissed her cheek, leaving a little smudge of pink frosting on it.

"Al…" Lily blushed, turning to look back at him.

Al turned her; so that her back was against the table, and taking her chin in his hand, he leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips. The girl whispered his name again as she reached up to coil her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss. His lean body bent over hers and she pressed back against him. Al's lips left hers, but he didn't break the contact of skin as he moved to kiss her cheek, his tongue darting out to lick the icing he had left with his last kiss. She led his lips back to hers, and this time his tongue entered her mouth. Lily didn't put up much of a fight and he easily gained dominance, smiling as he tasted the cake in her mouth.

They were so engrossed in their moment that they didn't notice the small woman who had entered the kitchen.

"Ahem!"

Al had to practically force his lips away from Lily's, not wanting to stop, to see who had interrupted them. The couple immediately turned an impressive shade of red and let go of each other when they saw Pinako grinning playfully at them.

"Cakes done, Al?" she asked teasingly. Al just blushed, and the old lady frowned when a strong smell touched her nose. "What's that burning smell?"

Simultaneously, all the three heads in the kitchen turned to look at the oven, out of which smoke was rising.

"Oh NO! My cupcakes!"

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"We had a great meal, so what do we do next?" Ed asked. "That was something that I wanted to do, what about you? Is there anything you'd like?"

"Well, remember the fun we had when we were kids?" Winry said, looking thoughtful.

Ed nodded. "Yeah, what about it?"

"I wish we could go back to those times."

Edward's gaze turned wistful. "Yeah... me to."

"Though it doesn't mean we can't still do the same things!" she said, a cheeky glint coming to her eye, and before Ed could figure out what she meant, she slapped him hard on his arm. "Tag you're it!" she laughed, running ahead of him. Ed simply stared at her in surprise, while rubbing the arm she had hit. "C'mon slow-poke! I'm going to get way ahead of you!" she called out at him, turning back to look at him, and slowing into a jog.

A wide grin spread across the alchemist's face and he laughed. "Alright! Here I come!"

The two friends played together like children for more than half an hour after, each swapping turns to chase or run, until finally, while Winry was chasing Ed, she collapsed on the grass under a large oak out of exhaustion.

"Alright Ed! I give up!" she gasped as the boy walked cautiously towards her, expecting her to spring up and grab him. When he realized she was serious, he sat down on the grass next to her.

"Really? You're giving up so fast? But I still have so much energy left!" Ed teased.

The girl hit him weakly on his leg, but started chuckling afterwards. "Thanks, Ed."

"For what?" Ed stretched out on the grass next to her.

"I can't have this kind of fun with anyone." She explained. "You're the only person I can ask to act like a kid with me." She turned her head to the side to look at him and found his golden orbs staring back at her. She felt her heart skip a beat when she felt Ed's hand touching hers before their fingers knotted together. It wasn't his automail hand, and he wasn't wearing a glove on his normal hand either so she could feel the callused texture of his work-worn hand, but his grip was very gentle over hers.

"I'll always be here for you, Winry," he said in a low husky voice that made her at a loss for words. She had never felt this butterfly-wings feeling when she was with Ed before. Winry didn't say anything, so Ed hoisted himself up slightly, without letting go of her hand, and leaned down to kiss her. However, Winry turned her head before Ed could kiss her lips, causing his lips to meet her cheek instead.

Ed immediately straightened up to a sitting position turning his head away from Winry, but keeping a hold of her hand. The girl remained unmoving.

"Sorry."

Winry was silent for a moment before she spoke. "No, I'm sorry Ed," she started. "But I have a boyfriend. I don't want to be the kind of person to cheat on the people they care about." The fact that she hadn't rebuked against his actions didn't go unnoticed by Ed, but that didn't stop the sinking feeling he felt in his stomach. "Please understand. I do care about you, but I don't want to do it like this."

"I'm sorry… I ruined our date." Ed muttered.

"No, you didn't," Winry said, standing up and pulling Ed up along with her. "C'mon, let's take a walk around. The weather is amazing."

They remained hand in hand as they walked. The almost-kiss hadn't spoiled the atmosphere between them, and Ed was glad that they were able to enjoy the rest of their date.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Brother! Brother, wake up!" Al called his brother, shaking him softly while he lay in bed.

"W-what?" Ed asked groggily, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes with the heel of his palm. He looked at the clock on the wall and groaned. "Al, it's six in the morning! Why'd you wake me up?"

"Winry's calling you," Al said, letting go of his brother and settling down on his own bed. "She's in her workshop."

"Yeah, tell her I'll be there in a sec," Ed dragged himself out of bed and into the bathroom before splashing cold water over his face. He looked up at his reflection in the mirror and sighed, remembering Winry's and his date last night. He supposed it was because the girl had called him beautiful, he was able to dare himself to kiss her. Even though she had said he hadn't spoiled the date, he couldn't help feeling a little awkward about it.

"You're an idiot," Edward muttered to his reflection, scowling. The young man in the mirror said nothing but scowled back at him. He just sighed, wiped his face with a towel and left the bathroom to stomp down the stairs to Winry's workshop.

"What's up, Win?" he asked as soon as he stepped into the room. Winry was hunched over her work table polishing a new work of automail. Ed walked up next to her and leaned on the table. "That's a nice piece of work," he admired. "Who is it for?"

The blonde girl didn't speak until she finished what she was doing, and then she looked up at him. "It's for you." She said. "I've finished rebuilding your automail! What do you think?" she beamed at her work and held it out for him to look at.

"Looks great!" Ed grinned. "Oh yeah, I wanted to let you know that I'll be heading back to Central tomorrow."

The moment the words left his mouth, Winry's eyes turned to the table and Ed's smile diminished as well. He had been having so much fun in Resembool, he hadn't realized how the time passed and had actually forgotten the work-load waiting for him back at the military.

"So you had planned to leave tomorrow?" Winry asked.

"I guess," Ed muttered. "We were already here for a long time. I have to get back before too much work piles up – Fuhrer Shit-Mustang is such a slave driver, you know!" The boy forced a smile on his face before speaking again. "Hey, do you want to go out with me for a bit?"

"Huh? Where?"

"Shopping," Ed smiled. "Al's making me buy parting gifts for everyone. I should ask Al to come along to help as well, since it is his big idea."

Winry returned the smile. "Sure, let's go out together!"

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

"Well that was fun!" Winry giggled as they walked back home from their shopping trip, their hands laden with bags from various bags.

"Was it really?" Ed asked, adjusting his hold on the bags in his hands. He couldn't bring himself to agree with her. He had no idea what to buy for everyone, there were so many options in the shops, but he could never be sure if his friends would like his gifts. If it wasn't for Winry, he would have given up after the first fifteen minutes of looking.

He had bought a pipe for Pinako, shirts for the boys; all of which were picked by Winry and a pair of nice earrings and dresses for Lilly; also selected by Winry. Winry also chose some outfits for herself that Ed paid for. Edward looked at the pretty blue ribbons in Winry's hair and smiled. He took pride in the fact that those where something he had picked by himself.

"What are you smiling at?" Winry asked self-consciously.

"The ribbons," Ed said. "They look good on you."

"Oh!" Winry blushed.

"I hope it doesn't rain again," Ed said, to change the topic of conversation, while looking up into the sky where dark clouds were forming. It had been raining on and off all day, and neither of them had brought an umbrella nor raincoats. Winry nodded in agreement, not wanting to get caught in another shower, especially while carrying their shopping.

Edward didn't say anything more, but looked up the road ahead of them when he heard a melodious voice singing a cheery, meaningless song. "Who's that?" he asked, pointing forwards at a figure squatting at the side of the road. Winry looked up, but shook her head when she too was unable to identify the person. Looking closer at the person's head that was covered by the hood of a clear raincoat, he saw a hint of magenta in the person's dark hair, erasing all doubt of who it was.

"Hiya Jomy!" Ed greeted him when Winry and he reached the boy.

"Good morning Ed, Winry!" Jomy said, looking up and beaming at the two of them.

"Jomy, what are you doing?" Winry asked looking down at him in bewilderment. The pale boy was clad in a clear poncho, through which they could see his plain black attire that made his magenta highlighted hair stand out even more, and knee-high green wellingtons, that were now dirtied with mud. However this wasn't what was made Winry stare. The part-albino boy was squatting right in the middle of a sticky puddle of mud, while kneading a handful of mud between his fingers.

Jomy looked down at his hands, where Winry was staring, before looking back up at her. "What's the matter?"

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Well, you _are_ playing with mud." She said as a-matter-of-fact. "Like a child."

The boy looked from his hands to Winry and back again with a thoughtful expression on his face. "It's fun!" was his answer, as he broke out into a wide smile. "Want to try?" He swept his hands in the direction of small cakes of mud, set in piles next to him and said "I've been doing this ever since the rain came down today. Do you want to play?"

"No thanks, I'll pass." Winry said, scrunching up her nose in disapproval. She looked up to see Al and Lily walking towards them, hand in hand while Al carried another bag on his right. She waved at them as they approached.

"Hi, you two! Out on a date?" she asked as they approached. "After ditching us?" she added.

"Not really," Al replied, laughing lightly. "Lily wanted my help to deliver something to her grandma." His eyes turned to the boy squatting on the ground. "I was just about to go to your place Jo…mee… uh… what are you doing?"

"Making mud-pies," Jomy answered without looking up.

Edward chuckled and, after placing the bags he was carrying on a dry rock on the side of the road, he squatted near the black haired boy, careful to avoid the muddy areas. "It looks interesting though!"

His brother chuckled and joined him on the floor after giving his bags to his girlfriend. "What else can you do besides making mud-pies?"

"Well…" Jomy said, molding a handful of mud between his fingers. "You can do...this!" As he spoke, the ball of mud was sent flying out of his hand before falling splat on Edward's face.

Everyone was quiet for two second in surprise, before Ed jumped to his feet in outrage. "Jomy, you moron!" he seethed as his hand scooped up a handful of mud before flinging it at his target. It didn't take too long before flying mud-balls covered the area. The mud that missed their targets hit others, and soon Al and Winry got involved in the fun. Lily had tried to avoid it, but in her attempt to protect the bags, she wound up covered in mud as well.

It wasn't just them who were playing. Some of the other passersby who had been hit with the flying bombs also joined in, while others chose to run away. When their friends also got involved, it soon turned into a fun game for all of them. Even those who tried to stop it, like Jomy's twin Joanie, wound up joining in.

When everyone was completely layered with mud, that there was more on them than the ground, did they finally stop and many took off to clean up.

"Well that was fun!" Jomy laughed while clapping Ed on his back with a dirty hand.

"Humph! How did I get involved?" Joanie groaned, trying to pull out the gunk that had caked onto her hair. "Mom's going to kill the both of us for coming home like this!"

"Don't kid yourself! You were having fun!" Winry giggled, grabbing the girl in a muddy bear-hug from behind. Joanie smiled in agreement.

"Oh no! Where are my bags?" Al cried suddenly, turning to look at Lily who also had been playing with them.

"I put them away, on a tree, when the game started to get more messy!" she smiled and pointed at a large tree.

While Al went to check on the bags, Ed cried out as well. "Shit! What happened to my shopping?" he looked around but when he was unable to find them, he feared that they might have been buried under all the mud.

"Don't worry brother," Al said comfortingly. "They're all here; Lily put them away as well." He held out some of the bags in his hands to his brother, which he accepted.

Ed thanked Lily before pulling her into a hug with a wide grin on his face. "You sure know how to pick 'em, Al! Your girlfriend is the sweetest!" The couple blushed at his compliments, while the rest of them laughed in agreement.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

That evening, Ed went down to the workshop in the house to look for Winry. However the room was empty when he entered, and even when he called out there was no answer. After looking around the room for a bit, he found an automail arm on the work table, next to it was some polish and a brush. Looking at it closely, and judging by its size and design, he realized it must have been made for him.

_Wow, Winry has got some talent!_ He thought, picking up the automail and checking its weight. It was very light, and he knew it would feel comfortable when it was on him.

"Do you like it?"

The voice came from behind him, and Ed turned around to look at Winry. "Is it mine?" he asked. At the back of his mind he knew that he would feel a little disappointed if it had been made for somebody else. He didn't know much about automail, but he could tell that this was a good piece. Winry nodded and took the automail from him.

"I just finished polishing it," She said. "Shall I put it on you? I finished your leg too."

"Sure," Ed said, seating himself on top of the worktable.

First deciding to fix his leg, Winry folded Ed's left trouser leg, stopping above his knee, and gently pulled off his old automail. She positioned the new one in front of the port, before asking Ed his other plans for the evening. Attaching automail hurt, but talking to him would divert his attention away from the pain. Edward winced as she plugged in his left leg, but kept his mouth shut to the pain.

"Take off your shirt," Winry instructed, as she picked up his automail arm and wiped the joint with a clean cloth to make sure that there were no dirt or germs on it.

Ed did as he was told, and Winry used the cloth to wipe his port as well after removing the attached automail. "You're sweating," she observed. "Are you feeling hot? You don't have a fever do you?" she reached up to feel his forehead.

"Nah," he said. "I'm fine. It just hurts a bit, that's all."

Winry nodded and held the arm in front of his port before asking, "What do you plan to do once you go back to Central?"

"Once I go back?" Ed looked thoughtful before answering. "Mustang will probably load all his work on me!" he laughed. "I'll miss yo-argh!" Ed cried softly, as she connected the ports. He rubbed the shoulder joint gently before slouching on the table.

"I'll miss you too, Ed" Winry said, rubbing his shoulder for him. The scars that were there made the skin in that area much rougher than in other areas, besides his left knee where he had similar scars. She then stepped back to look at him. "Is it comfortable?"

The Elric hopped down from the table and tried moving his automail. "It feels good. Very comfortable." He said, flexing his right arm. "Thank you." He leaned back on the table.

The girl looked at the young man in front of him, and again she was stunned by his breathtaking appearance. He really had beautifully tanned skin with a strong muscled left arm and an automail right, which was just as strong, a tight chest and abs. Without her realizing it, a feeling came over her and she couldn't stop herself from reaching out to touch his well toned body. It was only with her finger tips, and she gently dragged her fingers along his chest to his stomach. Ed started and gasped when he felt her hand trail down his body, trying really hard not to moan at the contact.

**Winry's POV:**

Edward's body couldn't be called flawless, because of the various scars he carried from his different battles. All marks of either his victory or defeat. But nevertheless, he was still really beautiful.

I dragged my hand across all the visible parts of his body. I could tell that Ed was beginning to get uncomfortable, but for some unexplainable reason, I couldn't pull my hand away. I traced my way back up along his firm stomach and chest, circling my thumb over his left nipple before touching his cheek.

He had a very handsome face, with a strong jaw and the most beautiful eyes that I had ever seen. I kept one hand pressed over his chest. I could feel the beat of his heart hammering against his ribcage. And with the other I drew over his lips, tracing them with my finger tips. Then, without thinking, I leaned forward and kissed them.

He tasted wonderful. My tongue darted out to lick his lips, and I felt him pucker them. I was just about to curl my arms around his neck, to secure myself closer to him, but I stopped when I felt his lips harden. His hands grabbed my shoulders and pushed me away.

"Stop!" His eyes were hard and unwavering. "Stop it."

Realization of what I was doing came to me, and my hand flew over my lips in a reflex action. "I'm sorry." That was all I could say. _What was I doing?_ Had I been so infatuated with Ed that I couldn't keep away? "Please forget what just happened." I whispered with my eyes turned down. Unable to stay in the room with him any longer, I fled to the sanctuary of my own.

**Edward's POV:**

I stood alone in the room.

I could not explain what had happened between Winry and me. I clutched my hand over my racing heart as I tried to steady my breathing. The room felt hot and my whole body felt like it was on fire. Winry's lips against mine felt so… good. It had been easy to disguise my heated appearance, but when she had kissed me, it had turned everything around.

I couldn't resist kissing her back, but once the excitement got too much, I couldn't bear it. My trousers felt so tight at the fork, and I couldn't have felt more uncomfortable. I longed to continue kissing her, to touch her, to feel her against me, but I was afraid that if I held it in any longer I would explode or that she would notice the growing bulge of my trousers.

The hallway was empty when I left the room, and I staggered into the bathroom, quickly locking the door behind me before relieving myself. I was still in shock from the fact that it was Winry who had advanced on me.

I bit my lip to muffle a groan that escaped my lips as I eased my discomfort.

_What had driven her to do that? What about her relationship with Andrew, that she had been so serious about? Did something happen between them? _

My head buzzed with questions, making me feel light-headed. When I finally left the bathroom, I tried to confront Winry but I found that she had left the house, so I settled down in my room for the evening. I was leaving the next morning on the early train, so I worried that I wouldn't be able to talk to her that night.

My mind was so messed up that I skipped dinner, and Winry continued to stay with people around her that night, so I couldn't get her alone to talk. In the end I wound up sleeping with my unsolved questions, hoping that when morning came, my head would be clearer.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-

A whistle sounded as the train started its engines, and smoke filled the air as it took off out of the station. Ed watched the train windows fly in front of his eyes as he sat on a bench at the station, waiting for his train to pull in. He looked at the blonde girl sitting next to him out of the corner of his eye and let out a short sigh. He and Winry had acted like as though nothing had happened between them the night before in front of others, and even Al, who was sitting on Winry's other side remained oblivious.

"They're here!" Al said getting up from his seat. Ed followed his gaze to the troop of people who had just entered the station and waved. Al immediately went up and embraced his girlfriend.

The rest of the time was spent with everyone exchanging best wishes and farewells to each other. Ed shook the guys' hands while the girls, and Jomy, gave him parting hugs.

"Take care, Ed!" Jomy sniffed. "Come back soon!"

"Oh c'mon," Ed grinned. "Are you seriously crying?"

"N-no!" he hiccupped. "I've just got something in my eye!" he said wiping away tears.

Edward smiled when he saw his brother in a tight, loving embrace with Lily, little way off from everyone else. They did not cry, knowing that they would see each other again. He turned away and found himself face-to-face with Winry. There was a hesitation between them before Ed opened his arms and Winry moved into them.

"See you Winry," he spoke into her hair. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too," Winry whispered back, holding him tighter. "Have a safe trip."

Right on time, their train to Central pulled into the station just as Ed let go of Winry. There was another round of hugs before Ed and Al boarded it and went in to find a cabin, and soon the train was off again, with both the brothers watching their friends out of their cabin window until they were out of sight.

Ed sighed as he slumped in his seat. He was glad. In the end, he was able to have a good farewell with Winry and there were no more awkward feelings in him.

"Brother?" Al looked at him questioningly.

"I wonder when we'll return…" Ed brooded, looking out of the window.

"Soon I hope," Al smiled and his brother grinned at him.

"Because you'll have a girlfriend waiting, right?" Ed teased. Al blushed and they both laughed.

When the laughter died down Al spoke again. "What about you and Winry? I know you like her."

Ed looked at his brother with a sober expression. "Who knows, Al. Who knows…" he said before they both started laughing again at his expression.

**THE END**

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**TSUKI: Hello everyone! Niki's little sister Tsuki here!**

**How did you all enjoy the story? Don't forget to send in your reviews about the chapter, story and your feelings of it!**

**Since my sister had been really busy these days she had asked me to finish the story for her! Don't worry all you fans! All of the content in this story has been approved by her and she has edited it herself.**

**Well this is Sayonara everyone! Please keep reading ~HoPeLeSsRoMaNtIc~'s fanfictions!**

…

**As a side note, if you enjoyed her stories, you will enjoy mine too! Please check out my profile where my name is moon-in-flames!**

**It is currently going under mass editing but please do visit, and…**

**WHAM! **

**NIKI: Stop advertising on my last chapter!**

**TSUKI: *Rubbing an apple sized bruise on her head* Teehee~!**

**NIKI: Tch! Pain-in-the-ass sisters. Just because she wrote up most of this last chapter, she thinks she can use it as an ad space… -.-"**

**xP**

**Thank you so much guys... this chapter was for all those who remained with me throughout the course of this story, for especially enduring my tardiness. Love you all!**

**I hope to see you guys again soon... :)**

**3**


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